





rmfyiightM" ~ 7 . Wl 


s it-fz ^ 













. -it ' ^ T K 


•■"f' I- .'■ .rvrfvfi.:-;i>, • 


. V - ? . -^ .'If • 

- i”: ■ ■* . r-A < 

Aff %• > .,*]<, ^; 'i' ■ 

■ '“.M- ,,.> ■.■^-•F'-'-. ■ '-: 

■ .-jm 

' - /-.'-rSfi •■ ■’. r. , > fvt 

w - . • . ^ . --TVi y"' 



I ?» ■ * '.1 • ■ ‘ ^rl^* ■ : i ■'. i T 

t'. . >V;. \«5f ■' j#. i- ^ 

•i - rl 3f . l it--- '’ - '■♦ * . ^ / lK5i 

‘V r : .- -■' <.:-H ./ ■ 


^ • * ♦ '^- \ 

^ •HSf - ■ - 1 • ' ' • V:^?( 

'.'.r-v, ^ ■ ’V-^> '2 . ‘ y ' ■ - .’? 

^- • ' ' »_ j-*. •jifc-lll 

•■-- , vA-' V- .,^ r ^ . .-r-Al 


1 M 


^ « 


t .1 



*lr 


P.V- 


-"'i • 

I ' > » 


..- JT ’ -•r; 

I V«‘ -«>« .r -« ' ■’* 

• -■ '*'-■. •■ ", 

7 J| \ ♦ 






© G.W. J. & CO. 

The swans settled close by her 


TME WILD SWANS 
% AND OTLER STORIES 

^ y 

by Hans Christian Andersen 




V 




With illustrations in color 
by Elenore Plaisted Abbott 
And in Olack and white 
by Edward Shenton 

George W. Jacobs & Company^’ 

Publishers Philadelphia 

^ r I 


1 

S 





Copyright, 1922, by 
George W. Jacobs & Company 






All rights reserved 
Printed in U. S. A, 


NOV 13 ’22 


©C1A703003 

/VjxJ , / » 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 


The Wild Swans 7 

The Steadfast Tin Soldier , . .31 

The Snail and the Rose-Bush ... 39 

The Marsh King’s Daughter ... 44 

The Bell 80 

The Shepherdess and the Sweep . . 89 

The Angel 97 

The Storks 102 

The Goblin and the Huckster . . .111 





t 


' > 


I 



f 






\ 









‘J * ' 









I 


J t . • 

. » 



^ 1 

, , J 


i 


\ 


I 

i 



r 

i 


■ 'W. 

\ . 



,1 



I 



i 


f. 


[ 


t. 


t 



‘ -f 



t 


V 


i 




4 



f 


k, i 



S 


I 


4 


\ 


4 


I 


* 


t 


I 


1 



t 

I 


■ i 


t 


> 


A 


f 




, ,• 

I 




,iu: , ' 

1 I' vV'" ^ - 


/'• 

['■ ■ I 


t 


< 


I 




•'V 

i 


' V'tk 


A , 

■ V, ^ 

w/i’ ''.V’; 


, V 


✓ 


< ^ 


I 


t 


I 


1 



I 


ILLUSTRATIONS . 

The swans settled close to her . , Frontispiece 

FACING PAGE 

“Tin soldier, said the goblin, “have the good- 
ness to keep your eyes to yourself . . .32 

Among the water-lilies lay a sleeping woman . . 44 

The alder stump then began to move, for it was the 

Marsh King himself who lives in the bog , . 64 

The poor boy had reached the same goal j ust as 

soon by his own road 80 

At last they reached the top of the chimney and sat 

themselves down 90 

The angel and the child 98 



THE WILD SWANS 



AR away, where the swallows go in winter, 


lived a king who had eleven sons and one 
daughter, Elise. The eleven brothers — they 
were all princes — used to go to school with stars 
on their breasts and swords at their sides. They 
wrote upon golden slates with diamond pencils, 
and could read just as well without a book as 
with one, so there was no mistake about their be- 
ing real princes. Their sister Elise sat upon a 
little footstool of looking-glass, and she had a 
picture-book which had cost the half of a king- 
dom. Oh, these children were very happy; but 
it was not to last thus forever. 

Their father, who was king over all the land, 
married a wicked queen who was not at all kind 
to the poor children; they found that out on the 
first day. When the children wanted to play at 
having company, instead of having as many 
cakes and baked apples as they wanted, she 
would only let them have some sand in a teacup, 
and said they must make believe. 

In the following week she sent little Elise into 


8 


THE WILD SWANS 


the country to board with some peasants, and it 
did not take her long to make the king believe so 
many bad things about the boys, that he cared no 
more about them. 

“ Fly out into the world and look after your- 
selves,” said the wicked queen; “you shall fly 
about like birds without voices.” 

But she could not make things as bad for them 
as she would have liked ; they turned into eleven 
beautiful wild swans. They flew out of the pal- 
ace window, right across the park and the woods. 

It was very early in the morning when they 
came to the place where their sister Elise was 
sleeping in the peasant’s house. They hovered 
over the roof of the house, turning and twisting 
their long necks, and flapping their wings; but 
no one either heard or saw them. They had to 
fly away again, and they soared up towards the 
clouds, far out into the wide world, and they set- 
tled in a big, dark wood, which stretched down to 
the shore. 

Poor little Elise was in the peasant’s room, 
playing with a green leaf, for she had no other 
toys. She made a little hole in it, which she 
looked through at the sun, and it seemed to her as 
if she saw her brothers’ bright eyes. Every time 


THE WILD SWANS 


9 


the warm sunbeams shone upon her cheek, it re- 
minded her of their kisses. One day passed just 
like another. When the wind whistled through 
the rose-hedges outside the house, it whispered to 
the roses, “ Who can be prettier than you are? ” 
But the roses shook their heads and answered, 
“ Elise! ” And when the old woman sat in the 
doorway reading her Bible, the wind turned over 
the leaves and said to the book, “ Who can be 
more pious than you? ” “ Elise! ” answered the 

book. Both the roses and the Bible only spoke 
the truth. 

She was to go home when she was fifteen, but 
when the queen saw how pretty she was, she got 
very angry, and her heart was filled with hatred. 
She would willingly have turned her into a wild 
swan too, like her brothers, but she did not dare 
to do it at once, for the king wanted to see his 
daughter. The queen always went to the bath 
in the early morning. It was of marble and 
adorned with soft cushions and beautiful carpets. 

She took three toads, kissed them, and said to 
the first, “ Sit upon Elise’s head when she comes 
to the bath, so that she may become stupid like 
yourself. Sit upon her forehead,” she said to 
the second, ‘‘ that she may become ugly like you. 


10 


THE WILD SWANS 


and then her father won’t know her! Rest upon 
her heart,” she whispered to the third. “ Let an 
evil spirit come over her, which may be a burden 
to her.” Then she put the toads into the clean 
water, and a green tinge immediately came over 
it. She called Elise, undressed her, and made 
her go into the bath; when she ducked under the 
water, one of the toads got among her hair, the 
other got on to her forehead, and the third on to 
her bosom. But when she stood uj) three scarlet 
popiDies floated on the water; had not the toads 
been kissed by the queen, they would have been 
changed into crimson roses, but they became 
flowers from merely having rested a moment on 
the girl’s head and her heart. She was far too 
good for the witchcraft to have any power over 
her. When the wicked queen saw this, she 
rubbed her over with walnut juice, and smeared 
her face with some evil-smelling salve. She also 
mussed up her beautiful hair, so it would have 
been impossible to recognize pretty Elise. When 
her father saw her, he said that she could not be 
his daughter. Nobody would have anything to 
say to her, except the dog in the yard, and the 
swallows, and they were poor dumb animals 
whose opinion went for nothing. 


THE WILD SWANS 


11 


Poor Elise wept, and thought of her eleven 
brothers who were all lost. She crejDt sadly out 
of the palace and wandered about all day, over 
meadows and marshes, and into a big forest. 
She did not know in the least where she wanted 
to go, but she felt very sad, and longed for her 
brothers, who, no doubt, like herself had been 
driven out of the palace. She made up her mind 
to go and look for them, but she had only been in 
the wood for a short time when night fell. She 
had quite lost her way, so she lay down upon the 
soft moss, said her evening prayer, and rested her 
head on a little hillock. She dreamt about her 
brothers all night long. 

When she woke the sun was already high. She 
could hear the splashing of water, for there were 
many springs around, which all flowed into a 
pond with a lovely sandy bottom. It was sur- 
rounded with thick bushes, but there was one 
place which the stags had trampled down and 
Elise passed through the opening to the water- 
side. 

When she looked into the water and saw her 
own face she was quite frightened, it was so 
brown and ugly, but when she wet her little hand 
and rubbed her eyes and forehead, her white skin 


12 


THE WILD SWANS 


shone through again. Then she took off all her 
clothes and went into the fresh water. A more 
beautiful child than she could not have been 
found in all the world. 

When she had put on her clothes again, and 
plaited her long hair, she went to a sparkling 
spring and drank some of the water out of the 
hollow of her hand. Then she wandered further 
into the wood, though where she was going she 
had not the least idea. She thought of her 
brothers, and she thought of a merciful God who 
would not forsake her. He let the wild crab- 
apples grow to feed the hungry. He showed her 
a tree, the branches of which were bending be- 
neath their weight of fruit. Here she made her 
midday meal, and, having put props under the 
branches, she walked on into the thickest part of 
the forest. It was so quiet that she heard her own 
footsteps, she heard every little withered leaf 
which bent under her feet. Not a bird was to be 
seen, not a ray of sunlight pierced the leafy 
branches. The solitude was such as she had 
never known before. 

It was a very dark night, not a single glow- 
worm sparkled in the marsh; sadly she lay down 
to sleep, and it seemed to her as if the branches 


13 


THE WILD SWANS 

atove her parted asunder, and the Saviour looked 
down upon her with His loving eyes, and little 
angels’ heads peeped out above His head and 
under His arms. 

When she woke in the morning she was not 
sure if she had dreamt this, or whether it was 
really true. 

She walked a little further, when she met an 
old woman with a basket full of berries, some of 
which she gave her. Elise asked if she had seen 
eleven princes ride through the wood. “ No,” 
said the old woman, “ but yesterday I saw eleven 
swans, with golden crowns upon their heads, 
swimming in the stream close by there.” 

She led Elise a little further to a slope, at the 
foot of which the stream ran, and there Elise said 
good-by to the old woman, and walked along by 
the river till it flowed out into the great open 
sea. 

The beautiful open sea lay before the maiden, 
but not a sail was to be seen on it, not a single 
boat. How was she ever to get any further? 
She looked at the numberless little pebbles on the 
beach; they were all worn quite round by the 
water. Glass, iron, stone, whatever was washed 
up, had taken their shapes from the water, which 


14 


THE WILD SWANS 


yet was much softer than her little hand. “ With 
all its rolling, it is untiring, and everything hard 
is smoothed down. I will be just as untiring! 
Thank you for your lesson, you clear rolling 
waves ! Some time, so my heart tells me, you will 
bear me to my beloved brothers 1 ” 

Eleven white swans’ feathers were lying on the 
seaweed; she picked them up and made a bunch 
of them. There were still drops of water on 
them. Whether these were dew or tears no one 
could tell. It was very lonelj^ there by the 
shore, but she did not feel it, for the sea was ever- 
changing. There were more changes on it in the 
course of a few hours than could be seen on an 
inland fresh-water lake in a year. If a big black 
cloud arose, it was just as if the sea wanted to 
say, “ I can look black too,” and then the wind 
blew up and the waves showed their white crests. 
But if the clouds were red and the wind dropped, 
the sea looked like a rose-leaf, now white, now 
green. But, however still it was, there was al- 
ways a little gentle motion just by the shore; the 
water rose and fell softly like the bosom of a 
sleeping child. X v 

When the sun was just about to go down, Elise 
saw eleven wild swans with golden crowns upon 


15 


THE WILD SWANS 

their heads flying towards the shore. They flew 
in a swaying line, one behind the other, like a 
white ribbon streamer. Elise climbed up onto 
the bank and hid behind a bush; the swans settled 
close by her and flapped their great white wings. 

As soon as the sun had sunk beneath the water 
the swans shed their feathers and became eleven 
handsome princes; they were Elise’s brothers. 
Although they had altered a good deal, she knew 
them at once; she felt that they must be her 
brothers and she sprang into their arms, calling 
them by name. They were delighted when they 
recognized their little sister who had grown so 
big and beautiful. They laughed and cried, and 
told each other how wickedly their stepmother 
had treated them all. 

“We brothers,” said the eldest, “ have to fly 
about as swans, as long as the sun is above the 
horizon. When it goes down we regain our 
human shapes. So we always have to look out 
for a resting place near sunset, for should we 
happen to be flying up among the clouds when 
the sun goes down, we should be hurled to the 
depths below. We do not live here; there is 
another land, just as beautiful as this, beyond 
the sea; but the way to it is very long and we 


16 


THE WILD SWANS 


have to cross the mighty ocean to get to it. 
There is not a single island on the way where we 
can spend the night; only one solitary little rock 
just up above the water. It is only just big 
enough for us to stand upon close together, and if 
there is a heavy sea the water splashes over us, 
yet we thank our God for it. We stay there 
over night in our human forms, and without it we 
could never revisit our beloved home, for our 
flight takes two of the longest days in the year. 
We are only permitted to visit the home of our 
fathers once a year, and we dare only stay for 
eleven days. We hover over this big forest from 
whence we catch a glimpse of the palace where 
we were born, and where our father lives; beyond 
it we can see the high church towers where our 
mother is buried. The charcoal burners still sing 
the old songs we used to dance to when we were 
children. This is our home; we are drawn to- 
wards it, and here we have found you again, dear 
little sister! We may stay here two days longer, 
and then we must fly away again across the 
ocean, to a lovely country indeed, but it is not our 
own dear home! How shall we ever take you 
with us? We have neither ship nor boat! ” 

“ How can I free you? ’’ said their sister, and 


THE WILD SWANS 17 

they went on talking to each other nearly all 
night. 

Elise was awakened in the morning by the 
rustling of the swans’ wings above her; her broth- 
ers were again transformed and were wheeling 
round in great circles, till she lost sight of them 
in the distance. One of them, the youngest, 
stayed behind. He laid his head against her 
bosom, and she caressed it with her fingers. They 
remained together all day; towards evening the 
others came back, and as soon as the sun went 
down they took their natural forms. 

“ To-morrow we must fly away, and we dare 
not come back for a whole year, but we can’t leave 
you like this ! Have you courage to go with us ? 
My arm is strong enough to carry you over the 
forest, so surely our united strength ought to be 
sufficient to bear you across the ocean.” 

“ Oh, yes! take me with you,” said Elise. 

They spent the whole night in weaving a kind 
of net of the elastic bark of the willow bound 
together with tough rushes; they made it both 
large and strong. Elise 'lay down upon it, and 
when the sun rose and the brothers became swans 
again, they took up the net in their bills and flew 
high up among the clouds with their precious 


18 


THE WILD SWANS 

sister, who was fast asleep. The sunbeams fell 
straight on to her face, so one of the swans flew 
over her head so that its broad wings should 
shade her. 

They were far from land when Elise woke; she 
thought she must still be dreaming, it seemed so 
strange to be carried through the air so high up 
above the sea. By her side lay a branch of 
beautiful ripe berries, and a bundle of savory 
roots, which her younger brother had collected 
for her, and for which she gave him a grateful 
smile. She knew it was he who flew above her 
head shading her from the sun. They were so 
high up that the first ship they saw looked like a 
gull floating on the water. 

They flew on and on all day like an arrow 
whizzing through the air, but they went slower 
than usual, for now they had their sister to carry. 
A storm came up, and night was drawing on; 
Elise saw the sun sinking with terror in her 
heart, for the solitary rock was nowhere to be 
seen. The swans seemed to be taking stronger 
strokes than ever; alas! she was the cause of their 
not being able to get on faster; as soon as the sun 
went down they would become men, and they 
would be hurled into the sea and drowned. She 


THE WILD SWANS 19 

prayed to God from the bottom of her Heart, but 
still no rock was to be seen! Black clouds gath- 
ered, and flashes of lightning followed each other 
rapidly. 

The sun was now at the edge of the sea. 
Elise’s heart quaked, when suddenly the swans 
shot downwards so suddenly, that she thought 
they were falling, then they hovered again. Half 
of the sun was below the horizon, and there for 
the first time she saw the little rock below, which 
did not look bigger than the head of a seal above 
the water. The sun sank very quickly ; it was no 
bigger than a star, but her foot touched solid 
earth. The sun went out like the last sparks of 
a bit of burning paper; she saw her brothers 
stand arm in arm around her, but there was only 
just room enough for them. The waves beat 
upon the rock, and washed over them like drench- 
ing rain. The heaven shone with continuous 
fire, and the thunder rolled, peal upon peal. But 
the sister and brothers held each other’s hands 
and sang a psalm which gave them comfort and 
courage. 

The air was pure and still at dawn. As soon 
as the sun rose the swans flew off with Elise, 
away from the islet. The sea still ran high; it 


20 


THE WILD SWANS 


looked from where they were as if the white 
foam on the dark green water were millions of 
swans floating on the waves. 

When the sun rose higher, Elise saw before 
her half floating in the air great masses of ice. 
Then she saw constant changes pass before her 
eyes, and presently the real land she was bound 
for. Beautiful blue mountains rose before her 
with their cedar woods and palaces. Long before 
the sun went down, she sat among the hills in 
front of a big cave covered with delicate green 
vines. 

“ Now we shall see what you will dream here 
to-night,” said the youngest brother, as he 
showed her where she was to sleep. 

If only I might dream how I could free 
you,” she said, and this thought filled her mind 
entirely. Then it seemed to her that a fairy 
came towards her; she was charming and bril- 
liant, and yet she was very like the old woman 
who gave her the berries in the wood, and told 
her about the swans with the golden crowns. 

“ Your brothers can be freed,” said the fairy, 
“ but have you courage and endurance enough 
for it? The sea is indeed softer than your hands, 
and it molds the hardest stones, but it does not 


THE WILD SWANS 


21 


feel the pain your fingers will feel. It has no 
heart, and does not suffer the pain and anguish 
you must feel. Do you see the stinging nettle I 
hold in my hand? Many of this kind grow round 
the cave where you sleep ; only these and the ones 
which grow in the churchyards may be used. 
Mark that ! Those you may pluck although they 
will burn and blister your hands. Crush the 
nettles with your feet and you will have flax, and 
of this you must weave eleven coats of mail with 
long sleeves. Throw these over the eleven wild 
swans and the charm is broken! But remember 
that from the moment you begin this work, till it 
is finished, even if it takes years, you must not 
utter a word! The first word you say will fall 
like a dagger into the hearts of your brothers. 
Their lives hang on your tongue. Mark this 
well!” 

She touched her hand at the same moment; it 
was like burning fire, and woke Elise. It was 
bright daylight, and close to where she slept lay 
a nettle like those in her dream. She fell uxDon 
her knees with thanks to God and left the cave 
to begin her work. 

She seized the horrid nettles with her delicate 
hands, and they burnt like fire; great blisters rose 


22 THE WILD SWANS 

on her hands and arms, but she suffered this 
willingly if only her task would free her beloved 
brothers. She crushed every nettle with her bare 
feet, and twisted it into green flax. 

When the sun went down and the brothers 
came back, they were alarmed at flnding her 
dumb; they thought it was some new witchcraft 
of their wicked stepmother. But when they saw 
her hands, they understood that it was for their 
sakes; the youngest brother wept, and wherever 
his tears fell, she felt no more pain, and the blis- 
ters disappeared. 

She spent the whole night at her work, for she 
could not rest till she had freed her dear brothers. 
All the following day while her brothers were 
away she sat working, but never had the time 
flown so fast. One coat of mail was finished and 
she began the next. Then a hunting-horn 
sounded among the mountains; she was much 
frightened; the sound came nearer, and she heard 
dogs barking. In terror she rushed into the cave 
and tied the nettles she had collected and woven 
into a bundle upon which she sat. 

At this moment a big dog bounded forward 
from the thicket, and another and another; they 
barked loudly and ran backwards and forwards. 


23 


THE WILD SWANS 

In a few minutes all the huntsmen were standing 
outside the cave, and the handsomest of them was 
the king of the country. He stepped up to Elise ; 
never had he seen so lovely a girl. 

“ How came you here, beautiful child? ” he 
said. 

Elise shook her head ; she dared not speak ; the 
freedom of her brothers depended upon her si- 
lence. She hid her hands under her apron, so 
that the king should not see what she suffered. 

“ Come with me! he said; “ you cannot stay 
Here. If you are as good as you are beautiful, I 
will dress you in silks and velvets, put a golden 
crown upon your head, and you shall live with 
me and have your home in my richest palace I ” 
Then he lifted her upon his horse; she wept and 
wrung her hands, but the king §aid, ‘‘ I only 
think of your happiness; you will thank me one 
day for what I am doing! ” Then he darted off 
across the mountains, holding her before him on 
his horse, and the huntsmen followed. 

When the sun went down, the royal city lay 
before them, and the king led her into the palace, 
where great fountains played in the marble halls, 
and where walls and ceilings were adorned with 
paintings, but she had no eyes for them, she only 


24 


THE WILD SWANS 


wept; she allowed the women to dress her in royal 
robes, to twist pearls into her hair, and to draw 
gloves onto her blistered hands. 

She was dazzlingly lovely as she stood there in 
all her magnificence; the courtiers bent low be- 
fore her, and the king wooed her as his bride, al- 
though the archbishop shook his head, and whis- 
pered that he feared the beautiful wood maiden 
was a witch, who had dazzled their eyes and en- 
chanted the king. 

The king refused to listen to him; he ordered 
the music to play, the richest food to be brought, 
and the loveliest girls to dance before her. She 
was led through scented gardens into gorgeous 
apartments, but nothing brought a smile to her 
lips, or into her eyes. Last of all, the king 
opened the door of a little chamber close by the 
room where she was to sleep. It was adorned 
with costly green carpets, and made like an exact 
copy of the cave where he found her. On the 
floor lay the bundle of flax she had spun from the 
nettles, and from the ceiling hung the shirt of 
mail which was already finished. One of the 
huntsmen had brought all these things away as 
curiosities. 

“ Here you may dream that you are back in 


THE WILD SWANS 25 

your former home!” said the king. “Here is 
the work upon which you were engaged; in the 
midst of your splendor, it may amuse you to 
think of those times.” 

When Elise saw all these things so dear to her 
heart, a smile for the first time played upon her 
lips, and the blood rushed back to her cheeks. 
She thought of the freeing of her brothers, and 
she kissed the king’s hand; he pressed her to his 
heart, and ordered all the church bells to ring 
marriage peals. The lovely dumb girl from the 
woods was to be queen of the country. 

The archbishop whispered evil words into the 
ear of the king, but they did not reach his heart. 
The wedding was to take place, and the arch- 
bishop himself had to put the crown upon 
her head. In his anger he pressed the golden 
circlet so tightly upon her head as to give 
her pain. But a heavier circlet pressed upon 
her heart, her gilef for her brothers, so she 
thought nothing of the bodily pain. Her lips 
were sealed; a single word from her mouth 
would cost her brothers their lives, but her 
eyes were full of love for the good and hand- 
some king, who did everything he could to please 
her. Every day she grew more and more at- 


26 


THE WILD SWANS 


tached to him, and longed to confide in him; but 
dumb she must remain. So at night she stole 
away from his side into her secret chamber, which 
was decorated like a cave, and here she knitted 
one shirt after another. When she came to the 
seventh, all her flax was worked up; she knew 
that these nettles which she was to use grew in 
the churchyard, but she had to pluck them her- 
self. How was she to get there? With as much 
terror in her heart as if she were doing some evil 
deed, she stole down one night into the moonlit 
garden and out into the silent streets to the 
churchyard. It was very dark and lonely, but 
she picked the stinging nettles and hurried back 
to the palace with them. 

Only one person saw her, but that was the 
archbishop, who watched while others slept. 
He thought that surely now the queen must be 
a witch, and had bewitched the king and all the 
people. 

He told the king what he had seen and what he 
feared. Two big tears rolled down the king’s 
cheeks, and he went home with doubt in his heart. 
He pretended to sleep at night, but no quiet sleep 
came to his eyes. He saw how Elise got up and 
went to her private room. Day by day his face 


27 


THE WILD SWANS 

grew darker; Elise saw it but could not imagine 
what was the cause of it. 

She had, however, almost reached the end of 
her labors ; only one shirt of mail was lacking, but 
again she had no more flax and not a single nettle 
was left. Once more, for the last time, she must 
go to the churchyard to pluck a few handfuls. 

Elise went, but the king and the archbishop 
followed her; they saw her disappear within the 
gate of the churchyard. The king was very sor- 
rowful, because he thought she must surely be a 
witch. 

“The people must judge her,” he groaned; 
and the people judged. “ Let her be burned in 
the glowing flames ! ” 

She was led away from her beautiful apart- 
ments to a dark dungeon, with a grated window. 
Instead of velvet and silk they gave her the bun- 
dle of nettles she had gathered to lay her head 
upon. The hard burning shirts of mail were to 
be her covering, but they could have given her 
nothing more precious. 

She set to work again with many prayers to 
God. 

Towards evening she heard the rustle of swans’ 
wings close to her window; it was her youngest 


28 


THE WILD SWANS 


brother; at last he had found her. He sobbed 
aloud with joy although he knew that the coming 
night might be her last, but then her work was 
almost done and her brothers were there. 

The archbishop came to spend her last hours 
with her as he had promised the king. She shook 
her head at him, and by looks and gestures 
begged him to leave her. She had only this night 
in which to finish her work, or else all would be 
wasted, all — her pain, tears and sleepless nights. 
The archbishop went away with bitter words 
against her, but poor Elise knew that she was 
innocent, and she went on with her work. 

The little mice ran about the floor bringing 
nettles to her feet, so as to give what help they 
could, and a thrush sat on the grating of the win- 
dow where he sang all night, as merrily as he 
could to keep up her courage. 

It was still only dawn, and the sun would not 
rise for an hour when the eleven brothers stood 
at the gate of the palace, begging to be taken to 
the king. This could not be done, was the an- 
swer, for it was still night; the king was asleep 
and no one dared wake him. All their entreaties 
and threats were useless; the watchmen turned 
out and even the king himself came to see what 


THE WILD SWANS 29 

was the matter; but just then the sun rose, and 
no more brothers were to be seen, only eleven 
wild swans hovering over the palace. 

The whole city streamed out to see the witch 
burnt. A miserable horse drew the cart in which 
Elise was seated. They had put upon her a 
smock of green sacking, and all her beautiful 
long hair hung loose from her lovely head. Her 
cheeks were deathly pale, and her lips moved 
softly, while her fingers unceasingly twisted the 
green yarn. Even on the way to her death she 
could not abandon her unfinished work. Ten 
shirts lay completed at her feet — she labored 
away at the eleventh, amid the jeers of the crowd. 

“ Look at the witch how she mutters. She has 
not a book of psalms in her hands; no, there she 
sits with her witchcraft. Tear it away from her, 
into a thousand bits ! ” 

The crowd pressed around her to destroy her 
work, but just then eleven wild swans flew down 
and perched upon the cart, flapping their wings. 
The crowd gave way before them in terror. 

‘‘ It is a sign from Heaven ! She is innocent! ” 
they whispered, but they dared not say it aloud. 

The executioner seized her by the hand, but she 
hastily threw the eleven shirts over the swans, 


30 


THE WILD SWANS 

who were immediately changed to eleven hand- 
some princes ; but the youngest had a swan’s wing 
in place of an arm, for one sleeve was wanting to 
his shirt of mail ; she had not been able to finish it. 

“ Now I may speak! I am innocent.” 

The populace who saw what had happened 
bowed down before her as if she had been a saint, 
but she sank lifeless in her brother’s arms; so 
great had been the strain, the terror and the suf- 
fering she had endured. 

“ Yes, innocent she is indeed,” said the eldest 
brother, and he told them all that had happened. 

Whilst he sj)oke a wonderful fragTance spread 
around, as of millions of roses. Every stick in 
the pile had taken root and shot out branches, and 
a great high hedge of red roses had arisen. At 
the very top was one pure white blossom ; it shone 
like a star, and the king broke it off and laid it on 
Elise’s bosom, and she woke with joy and peace 
in her heart. 

All the church bells began to ring, and the 
singing birds flocked around them. Surely such 
a bridal procession went back to the palace as no 
king had ever seen before! 


THE STEADFAST TIN SOLDIEK 



HERE were once five and twenty tin sol- 


diers, all brothers, for they were made from 
the same old tin spoon. Each man shouldered 
his gun, kept his eyes well to the front, and wore 
the smartest red and blue uniform imaginable. 
The first thing they heard in their new world, 
when the lid was taken off the box, was a little 
boy clapping his hands and crying, “ Soldiers, 
soldiers ! ’’ It was his birthday and they had just 
been given to him; so he lost no time in setting 
them up on the table. All the soldiers were ex- 
actly alike except one, and he differed from the 
rest in having only one leg. For he was made 
last, and there was not quite enough tin left to 
finish him. However, he stood just as well on 
his one leg as the others on two; in fact, he was 
the very one who was to become famous. On the 
table where they were being set up were many 
other toys; but the chief thing which caught the 
eye was a delightful paper castle. You could see 
through the tiny windows, right into the rooms. 
Outside there were some little trees surrounding 


32 THE STEADFAST TIN SOLDIER 

a small mirror, representing a lake, whose sur- 
face reflected the waxen swans which were swim- 
ming about on it. It was altogether charming, 
but the prettiest thing of all was a little maiden 
standing at the open door of the castle. She, 
too, was cut out of paper, but she wore a dress of 
the lightest gauze, with a dainty little blue ribbon 
over her shoulders, by way of a scarf, set off by a 
brilliant spangle as big as her whole face. The 
little maid was stretching out both arms, for she 
was a dancer, and in the dance one of her legs was 
raised so high into the air that the tin soldier 
could see absolutely nothing of it, and supposed 
that she, like himself, had but one leg. 

“That would be the very wife for me!” he 
thought; “but she is much too grand; she lives 
in a palace, while I only have a box, and then 
there are five and twenty of us to share it. No, 
that would be no place for her! but I must try 
to make her acquaintance! ” Then he lay down 
full length behind a snuff-box, which stood on the 
table. From that point he could have a good 
look at the lady, who continued to stand on one 
leg without losing her balance. 

Late in the evening the other soldiers were put 
into their box, and the people of the house went 



no 






V. • 




hiK- 


- ■ ■■’ ■■’•;■»%- '-a 




it 


■i 'I 


* .-'4 

^ • t 

» r ^ m 'gp 


4* 




k>!i 


r^rspncci,?’ • ■ ‘•■.•it'-w ‘''" ''v^^'J 

* 4 j - ■ : ’il ^ ^ ^ 


cJI ^ 



. I 


• .w 


f ■ » 


ft T 


■■i», • 


■ ^-y .'., '-n] 


I * 1 •• • 

t-‘ ■ -A*. 





« 


# A 


# f»^ *t 


f '♦ 




V‘ • - 

1*^ 






* 


.VV^' 


. i 


[T V ■’' ■^ *•. ^ ’'’''j.-!' 

* - • i " 


*4 


»..f j 

L ■ * • ^ V 


■. ’V 


\ 





vt 


*■ <1 


f^ • 


V' r •> * 4. 

■ ' «;■'■ I ' . . ■ , 

* ■ » ' 

>i 








.«j 




<A 




t 


Va 



a 


r I. 


mm,' ,'v-’£ 

* ^ * *>- -'.li^h u 


•> -■• > ; 


■ «fi 






•-‘Vi', •■*'’■' >1 ': 

I . *c.^ . * I 


I . ^ 


• : 

4* 


V 


■ •i 




, j. ■%v..Jt .’-^00 m 

* . rr 


, 4 - ■ . 

X * ' 


'■ •' * ' 'dt' 

rVf* ' ^ 




■ r A ^ 


■<,. 


I ^ 




* -♦ 


* / 


^ 'f! I,!,' •.!>.♦» •■ ■'•Ik 


% ' i 

• - ■« *> - ' 


«• 


*> 




Ms V 





.4 




, . 4 i’v ; ^ 

■:; •- .■ feWiS^JPilT.- ;JIB 



* ^ ' •' 

VT 

^ *:mj; ’ *i 4 ^ 

0 * * ,-/4 < J w V U / ' . v r* 

'-.C'- ■■-■■•::.y f ' 

■;. • * V^M., • m 


**• >‘_,4r 


^ . 







THE STEADFAST TIN SOLDIER 33 

to bed. Now was the time for the toys to play; 
they amused themselves with paying visits, fight- 
ing battles, and giving balls. The tin soldiers 
rustled about in their box, for they wanted to 
join the games, but they could not get the lid off. 
The nut-crackers turned somersaults, and the 
pencil scribbled nonsense on the slate. There 
was such a noise that the canary woke up and 
joined in, but his remarks were in verse. The 
only two who did not move were the tin soldier 
and the little dancer. She stood as stiff as ever 
on tiptoe, with her arms spread out: he was 
equally firm on his one leg, and he did not take 
his eyes off her for a moment. 

Then the clock struck twelve, when pop! up 
flew the lid of the snuff-box, but there was no 
snuff in it, no ! There was a little black goblin, a 
sort of Jack-in-the-box. 

“Tin soldier!” said the goblin, “have the 
goodness to keep your eyes to yourself.” 

But the tin soldier feigned not to hear. 

“Ah! you just wait till to-morrow,” said the 
goblin. 

In the morning when the children got up they 
put the tin soldier on the window frame, and, 
whether it was caused by the goblin or by a puff 


34 THE STEADFAST TIN SOLDIER 

of wind, I do not know, but all at once the win- 
dow bui'st open, and the soldier fell head fore- 
most from the third story. 

It was a terrific descent, and he landed at last, 
with his leg in the air, and rested on his cap, with 
his bayonet fixed between two paving-stones. 
The maid-servant and the little boy ran down at 
once to look for him; but although they almost 
trod on him, they could not see him. Had the 
soldier only called out, “ Here I am,” they would 
easily have found him, but he did not think it 
proper to shout when he was in uniform. 

Presently it began to rain, and the drops fell 
faster and faster, till there was a regular torrent. 
When it was over two street boys came along. 

“ Look out! ” said one; “ there is a tin soldier! 
He shall go for a sail.” 

So they made a boat out of a newspaper and 
put the soldier into the middle of it, and he sailed 
away down the gutter; both boys ran alongside 
clapping their hands. Good heavens! what 
waves there were in the gutter, and what a cur- 
rent, but then it certainly had rained cats and 
dogs. The paper boat danced up and down, and 
now and then whirled round and round. A 
shudder ran through the tin soldier, but he re- 


THE STEADFAST TIN SOLDIER 35 


mained undaunted, and did not move a muscle, 
only looked straight before him with his gun 
shouldered. All at once the boat drifted under 
a long wooden tunnel, and it became as dark as it 
was in his box. 

“ Where on earth am I going now? ” thought 
he. “ Well, well, it is all the fault of that gob- 
lin! Oh, if only the little maiden were with me 
in the boat it might be twice as dark for all I 
should care ! ” 

At this moment a big water rat, who lived in 
the tunnnel, came up. 

“ Have you a pass? ” asked the rat. “ Hand 
up your pass ! ” 

The tin soldier did not speak, but clung still 
tighter to his gun. The boat rushed on, the rat 
close behind. Phew, how he gnashed his teeth 
and shouted to the bits of stick and straw: 

‘‘ Stop him, stop him, he hasn’t paid his toll; 
he hasn’t shown his pass I ” 

But the current grew stronger and stronger, 
the tin soldier could already see daylight before 
him at the end of the tunnel; but he also heard a 
roaring sound, fit to strike terror to the bravest 
heart. Just imagine! Where the tunnel ended 
the stream rushed straight into the big canal. 


36 THE STEADFAST TIN SOLDIER 

That would be just as dangerous for him as it 
would be for us to shoot a great rapid. 

He was so near the end now that it was imjDOS- 
sible to stop. The boat dashed out; the poor tin 
soldier held himself as stiff as he could; no one 
should say of him that he even winced. 

The boat swirled round three or four times, 
and filled with water to the edge; it must sink. 
The tin soldier stood uj) to his neck in water, and 
the boat sank deeper and deeper. The paper be- 
came limper and limper, and at last the water 
went over his head — then he thought of the pretty 
little dancer, whom he was never to see again, and 
this refrain rang in his ears: 

“ Onward ! Onward ! Soldier ! 

For death thou canst not shun.” 

At last the paper gave way entirely and the 
soldier fell through— but at the same moment he 
was swallowed by a big fish. 

Oh, how dark it was inside the fish; it was 
worse than being in the tunnel even ; and then it 
was so narrow ! But the tin soldier was as daunt- 
less as ever, and lay full length, shouldering his 
gun. 

The fish rushed about and made the most fran- 


THE STEADFAST TIN SOLDIER 37 


tic movements. At last it became quite quiet, 
and after a time, a flash like lightning pierced it. 
The soldier was once more in the broad daylight, 
and some one called out loudly, “A tin soldier! ” 
The flsh had been caught, taken to market, sold, 
and brought into the kitchen, where the cook cut 
it open with a large knife. She took the soldier 
up by the waist, with two fingers, and carried him 
into the parlor, where every one wanted to see the 
wonderful man, who had traveled about in the 
stomach of a fish; but the tin soldier was not at all 
proud. They set him up on the table, and, won- 
der of wonders! be found himself in the very 
same room that he had been in before. He saw 
the very same children, and the toys were still 
standing on the table, as well as the beautiful 
castle with the pretty little dancer. 

She still stood on one leg, and held the other 
up in the air. You see she also was unbending. 
The soldier was so much moved that he was ready 
to shed tears of tin, but that would not have been 
fitting. He looked at her, and she looked at him, 
but they said never a word. At this moment one 
of the little boys took up the tin soldier, and 
without rhyme or reason, threw him into the fire. 
No doubt the little goblin in the snuff-box was to 


38 THE STEADFAST TIN SOLDIER 


blame for that. The tin soldier stood there, 
lighted up by the flame, and in the most horrible 
heat; but whether it was the heat of the real fire, 
or the warmth of his feelings, he did not know. 
He had lost all his gay color; it might have been 
from his perilous journey, or it might have been 
from grief, who can tell? 

He looked at the little maiden, and she looked 
at him; and he felt that he was melting away, but 
he still managed to keep himself erect, shoulder- 
ing his gun bravely. 

A door was suddenly opened, the draught 
caught the little dancer and she fluttered like a 
sylph, straight into the fire, to the soldier, blazed 
up and was gone! 

By this time the soldier was reduced to a mere 
lump, and when the maid took away the ashes 
next morning she found him, in the shape of a 
small tin heart. All that was left of the dancer 
was her spangle, and that was burned as black as 
a coal. 


THE SNAIL AND THE ROSE-BUSH 



ROUND a garden was a fence of hazel- 


^ bushes, and beyond that were fields and 
meadows, with cows and sheep ; but in the center 
of the garden stood a Rose-bush in full bloom. 
Under it lay a Snail, who had a great deal in him, 
according to himself. “ Wait till my time 
comes,” said he; “ I shall do a great deal more 
than to yield roses, or to bear nuts, or to give 
milk as cows do.” 

“ I expect an immense deal from you,” said 
Rose-bush. “ May I ask when it is to come 
forth? ” 

“ I shall take my time,” replied the Snail. 
‘‘ You are always in such a hurry with your work, 
that curiosity about it is never excited.” 

The following year the Snail lay, almost in the 
same spot as formerly, in the sunshine under the 
Rose-bush; it was already in bud, and the buds 
had begun to expand into full-blown flowers, al- 
ways fresh, always new. And the Snail crept 
half out, stretched forth its feelers, and then drew 
them in again. 


40 THE SNAIL AND ROSE-BUSH 

“ Everything looks just the same as last year; 
there is no progress to be seen anywhere. The 
Rose-bush is covered with roses — it will never get 
beyond that.” 

The summer passed, the autumn passed; the 
Rose-bush had yielded roses and buds up to the 
time that the snow fell. The weather became 
wet and tempestuous, the Rose-bush bowed down 
towards the ground, the Snail crept into the 
earth. 

A new year commenced, the Rose-bush re- 
vived, and the Snail came forth again. 

“ You are now only an old stick of a Rose- 
bush,” said he; “ you must expect to wither away 
soon. You have given the world all that was in 
you. Whether that were worth much or not, is 
a question I have not time to take into considera- 
tion; but this is certain, that you have not done 
the least for your own improvement, else some- 
thing very different might have been produced 
by you. Can you deny this? You will soon be- 
come only a bare stick. Do you understand what 
Isay?” 

“ You alarm me,” cried the Rose-bush. “ I 
never thought of this.” 

“ No, you have never troubled yourself with 


THE SNAIL AND ROSE-BUSH 41 

thinking much. But have you not occasionally 
reflected why you blossomed, and in what way 
you blossomed — ^how in one way and not in an- 
other? ” 

“ No,” answered the Rose-bush; “ I blossomed 
in gladness, for I could not do otherwise. The 
sun was so warm, the air so refreshing; I drank 
of the clear dew and the heavy rain; I breathed — 
I lived! There came up from the ground a 
strength to me, there came a strength from above. 
I experienced a degree of pleasure, always new, 
always great, and I was obliged to blossom. It 
was my life; I could not do otherwise.” 

“ You have had a very easy life,” remarked the 
Snail. 

“ To be sure, much has been granted to me,” 
said the Rose-bush, “ but no more will be be- 
stowed on me now. You have one of those medi- 
tative, deeply thinking minds, one so endowed 
that you will astonish the world.” 

“ I have by no means any such design,” said 
the Snail. “ The world is nothing to me. What 
have I to do with the world? I have enough to 
do with myself, and enough in myself.” 

‘‘ But should we not in this earth all give our 
best assistance to others — contribute what we 


42 THE SNAIL AND ROSE-BUSH 

can? Yes ! I have only been able to give roses ; 
but you — you who have got so much — what have 
you given to the world? What will you give it? ” 

“ What have I given? What will I give? I 
spit upon it! It is good for nothing! I have no 
interest in it. Produce your roses — you cannot 
do more than that — let the hazel bushes bear nuts, 
let the cows give milk! You have each of you 
your public; I have mine within myself. I am 
going into myself, and shall remain there. The 
world is nothing to me.” 

And so the Snail withdrew into his house, and 
closed it up. 

“ What a sad pity it is! ” exclaimed the Rose- 
bush. I cannot creep into shelter, however 
much I might wish it. I must always spring out, 
spring out into roses. The leaves fall off, and 
they fly away on the wind. But I saw one of the 
roses laid in a psalm-book belonging to the mis- 
tress of the house; another of my roses was placed 
on the breast of a young and beautiful girl, and 
another was kissed by a child’s soft lips in an 
ecstasy of joy. I was so charmed at all this: it 
was a real happiness to me — one of the pleasant 
remembrances of my life.” 

And the Rose-bush bloomed on in innocence. 


THE SNAIL AND ROSE-BUSH 43 


while the Snail retired into his slimy house — the 
world was nothing to him ! 

Years flew on. 

The Snail had returned to earth, the Rose-bush 
had returned to earth; also the dried rose-leaf in 
the psalm-book had disappeared, but new rose- 
bushes bloomed in the garden, and new snails 
were there; they crept into their houses, spitting 
— the world was nothing to them ! 

Shall we read their history too? It would not 
be different. 


THE MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER 


HE storks have a great many stories, which 



they tell their little ones, all about the bogs 
and the marshes. We all know one of the two 
oldest tales which have been kept up among the 
storks; the one about Moses, who was placed by 
his mother on the waters of the Nile, and found 
there by the king’s daughter. 

The other story is not kno^vn yet, because the 
storks have kept it among themselves. It has 
been handed on from one mother stork to another 
for more than a thousand years, and each suc- 
ceeding mother has told it better and better. 

The first pair of storks who told it, and who 
actually lived it, had their summer quarters on 
the roof of the Viking’s timbered house up by 
“Vidmosen” (the Wild Bog) in Wendsyssel. 
It is in the north of Jutland. There is still a 
great bog there. This district used to be under 
the sea, but the ground has risen, and it stretches 
for miles. It is surrounded on every side by 
marshy meadows, quagmires, and peat bogs, on 
which grow cloud berries and stunted bushes. 
There is nearly always a damp mist hanging over 



® G.W. J. & CO. 

Among the water-lilies lay a sleeping woman 






MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER 45 

it, and seventy years ago it was still overrun with 
wolves. It may well be called the Wild Bog, 
and one can easily imagine how desolate and 
dreary it was among all these swamps and pools 
a thousand years ago. In detail everything is 
much the same now as it was then. The reeds 
grow to the same height, and hav^e the same kind 
of long purple-brown leaves with feathery tips. 
The birch still grows there with its white bark 
and its delicate, loosely-hanging leaves. With 
regard to living creatures, the flies still wear their 
gauzy draperies of the same cut; and the storks 
now, as then, still dress in black and white, with 
long red stockings. The people certainly then 
had a very different cut for their clothes than at 
the present day; but if any of them, farmer or 
huntsman, or anybody at all stepped on the quag- 
mires, the same fate befell him a thousand years 
ago as would overtake him now if he ventured on 
them — in he would go, and down he would sink 
to the Marsh King, as they call him. He rules 
down below over the whole kingdom of bogs and 
swamps. 

Near the bogs lay the timbered hall of the 
Vikings, with its stone cellar, its tower, and its 
three stories. The storks had built their nest on 


46 MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER 

the top of the roof, and the mother stork was sif- 
ting on the eggs which she was quite sure would 
soon be successfully hatched. 

One evening father stork stayed out rather 
late, and when he came back he looked somewhat 
ruffled. 

“I have something terrible to tell you!” he 
said to the mother stork. 

Don’t tell it to me then,” she answered; “ re- 
member that I am sitting; it might upset me and 
that would be bad for the eggs ! ” 

“ You will have to know it,” said he; “ she has 
come here, the daughter of our host in Egypt. 
She has ventured to take the journey and now 
she has disappeared.” 

“ She who is related to the fairies ! Tell me all 
about it. You know I can’t bear to be kept wait- 
ing now I am sitting.” 

“ Look here, mother! She must have believed 
what the doctor said, as you told me ; she believed 
that the marsh flowers u]d here would do some- 
thing for her father, and she flew over here in 
feather plumage with the other two Princesses, 
who have to come north every year to take the 
baths to make themselves young. She came, and 
she has vanished.” 


MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER 47 

You go into too many particulars,” said the 
mother stork; “ the eggs might get a chill, and I 
can’t stand being kept in suspense.” 

“ I have been on the outlook,” said father 
stork, “ and to-night when I was among the reeds 
where the quagmire will hardly bear me, I saw 
three swans flying along, and there was some- 
thing about their flight which said to me, ‘ .Watch 
them; they are not real swans! They are only 
in swan’s plumage.’ ” 

“ But about the Princess,” said mother stork; 

I am tired of hearing about swan’s plu- 
mage.” 

You know that in the middle of the bog there 
is a kind of lake,” said father stork. “ Well, 
there was a big alder stump between the bushes 
and the quagmire, and on this the three swans 
settled, flapping their wings and looking about 
them. Then one of them threw off the swan’s 
plumage, and I at once recognized in her our 
Princess from Egypt. There she sat with no 
covering but her long black hair ; I heard her beg 
the two others to take good care of the swan’s 
plumage while she dived under the water to pick 
up the marsh flower which she thought she could 
see. They nodded and raised their heads, and 


48 MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER 


lifted up the loose plumage. They flew up into 
the air with the feather garment! ‘Just you 
duck down/ they cried. ‘ Never again will you 
fly about in the guise of a swan; never more will 
you see the land of Egypt; you may sit in your 
swamp.’ Then they tore the feather garment 
into a hundred bits, scattering the feathers all 
over the place, like a snowstorm ; then away flew 
those two good-for-nothing Princesses.” 

“What a terrible thing,” said mother stork; 
“ but I must have the end of it.” 

“ The Princess moaned and wept! Her tears 
trickled down upon the alder stump, and then it 
began to move, for it was the Marsh King him- 
self, who lives in the bog. I saw the stump turn 
round, and saw that it was no longer a stump ; it 
stretched out long miry branches like arms. The 
poor child was terrified, and she sprang away on 
to the shaking quagmire where it would not even 
bear my weight, far less hers. She sank at once 
and the alder stump after her; it was dragging 
her down. Great black bubbles rose in the slime, 
and then there was nothing more to be seen. 
Now she is buried in the Wild Bog, and never 
will she take back to Egypt the flowers she came 
for. 


MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER 49 


‘‘ I mean to keep a watch, though, every day,” 
said the stork, and he kept his word. 

But a long time passed, and then one day he 
saw that a green stem shot up from the depths, 
and when it reached the surface of the water, a 
leaf appeared at the top which grew broader and 
broader. Next a bud appeared close by it, and 
one morning at dawn, just as the stork was pass- 
ing, the bud opened out in the warm rays of the 
sun, and in the middle of it lay a lovely baby, a 
little girl, looking just as fresh as if she had just 
come out of a bath. She was so exactly like the 
Princess from Egypt that at first the stork 
thought it was she who had grown small; but 
when he put two and two together, he came to the 
conclusion that it was her child and the Marsh 
King’s. This explained why she appeared in a 
water-lily. She can’t stay there very long,” 
thought the stork; ‘‘ and there are too many of us 
in my nest as it is, but an idea has just come into 
my head! The Viking’s wife has no child, and 
she has often wished for one. As I am always 
said to bring the babies, this time I will do so in 
earnest. I will fly away to the Viking’s wife 
with the baby, and that will indeed be a joy for 
her.” 


50 MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER 

So the stork took up the little girl and flew 
away with her to the timbered house where he 
picked a hole in the bladder skin which covered 
the window, and laid the baby in the arms of the 
Viking’s wife. This done, he flew home and told 
the mother stork all about it ; and the young ones 
heard what he said. 

“ So you see that the Princess is not dead; she 
must have sent the baby up here, and I have 
found a home for her.” 

“ I said so from the very first,” said mother 
stork; “ now just give a little attention to your 
own children, it is almost time to start on our own 
journey. I feel a tingling in my wings every 
now and then! The cuckoo and the nightingale 
are already gone, and I hear from the quails that 
we shall soon have a good wind.” 

How delighted the Viking’s wife was when she 
woke in the morning and found the little baby on 
her bosom. She kissed and caressed it; but it 
screamed and kicked terribly, and seemed any- 
thing but happy. At last it cried itself to sleep, 
and as it lay there a prettier little thing could not 
have been seen. The Viking’s wife was de- 
lighted; body and soul were filled with joy. She 
was sure that now her husband and all his men 


MARSH KING S DAUGHTER 51 

would soon come back as unexpectedly as the 
baby had come. So she busied herself in putting 
the house in order for their return. When even- 
ing came she was very tired and slept soundly. 
When she woke towards morning she was much 
alarmed at finding that the little baby had disap- 
peared. She sprang u^^ and lighted a pine chip 
and looked about. There was no baby, but at the 
foot of the bed sat a hideous toad. She was 
frightened at the sight, and seized a heavy stick 
to kill it, but it looked at her with such curious 
sad eyes, that she had not the heart to strike it. 
Once more she looked round, and the toad gave a 
faint pitiful croak which made her start. She 
jumped out of bed and threw open the window 
shutter; the sun was just rising and its beams fell 
upon the bed and the great toad. All at once the 
toad’s wide mouth seemed to shut, and to become 
small and rosy, the limbs stretched and again 
took their lovely shapes, and it was her own dear 
little baby which lay there, and not a hideous 
frog. 

“ Whatever is this? ” she cried; ‘‘ I have had a 
bad dream. This is my own darling child.” She 
kissed it, and pressed it to her heart, but it strug- 
gled and bit like a wild kitten. 


52 MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER 

In the course of a few days and nights it be- 
came clear to the Viking’s wife how matters stood 
with her little baby ; some magic power had a ter- 
rible hold over her. In the daytime it was as 
beautiful as any fairy, but it had a bad, wicked 
temper; at night, on the other hand, she became a 
hideous toad, quiet and pathetic, with sad, mourn- 
ful eyes. There were two natures in her, both in 
soul and body, continually shifting. The reason 
of it M^as that the little girl brought by the frog, 
by day had her mother’s form and her father’s 
evil nature; but at night she had his form and her 
mother’s sweet nature and gentle spirit. Who 
could release her from the power of this witch- 
craft? The Viking’s wife knew that she would 
never dare tell her husband the true state of af- 
fairs, because he would without doubt have the 
poor child exposed on the highway for any one 
who chose to look after it. The good woman 
had not the heart to do this, and so she deter- 
mined that he should only see the child by broad 
daylight. 

One morning there was a sound of storks’ 
wings swishing over the roof; during the night 
more than a hundred pairs of storks had made it 
their resting-place, and they were now trying 


MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER 53 


their wings before starting on their long south- 
ward flight. 

“Every man ready!” they cried; “all the 
wives and children too.” 

Then away they flew. 

At the very same moment a horn sounded. 
The Viking had landed with all his men; they 
were bringing home no end of rich booty. 

The Viking went out once more that year on a 
raid, although the autumn winds were beginning; 
he sailed with his men to the coast of Britain. 
But his wife remained at home with the little girl, 
and the foster-mother soon grew fonder of the 
poor toad with the pathetic eyes than she was of 
the little beauty who tore and bit. 

Winter was on its way. The sparrows took 
the storks’ nest under their protection. 

The storks were in the land of Egypt under 
such a sun as we have on a warm summer’s day ! 
There was sunshine every day, and plenty to 
eat; nothing to think of but pleasure! 

But in the great palace of the Egyptian king 
matters were not so pleasant. The rich and 
mighty lord lay stretched upon his couch. The 
healing marsh flower from the northern lands, 
which was to be found and plucked by the one 


54 MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER 

who loved him best, would never be brought. 
His young and lovely daughter, who in the plu- 
mage of a swan had flown over sea and land to 
the far north, would never return. The two 
other swan Princesses had come back, and this is 
the tale they told; 

“We were all flying high up in the air when a 
huntsman saw us and shot his arrow; it pierced 
our sister to the heart and she slowly sank. As 
she sank she sang her farewell song and fell into 
the midst of a forest pool. Never more will she 
come back to the land of Egypt.” 

Then they both wept, and the father stork 
who heard it clattered with his beak and said, 
“Pack of lies; I should like to drive my beak 
right into their breasts ! ” 

The stork knew what a misfortune it was to 
the whole country that the king should be lying 
sick. “ But where blossoms the flower of healing 
for him? ” the people asked of one another, 
and all were agreed that aid must come through 
the Princess who loved her father with her whole 
heart and soul. It was more than a year and a 
day since they had sent her at night out into the 
desert to the Sphinx, where it would be revealed 
to her where she would And healing for her father. 


MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER 55 


This she had done, and the spot had been 
shown her in dreams where in the depths of the 
swamp she would find the lotus flower that would 
touch her bosom beneath the water. And this 
she was to bring home. So she flew away in her 
swan’s plumage to the Wild Bog in the far north. 

Now all this the father and mother stork had 
known from the beginning, and we know that 
the Marsh King had dragged her down to him- 
self. 

‘‘ I think I will snatch away the swans’ plu- 
mage from the two deceitful Princesses,” said the 
father stork. ‘‘ Then they cannot go to the Wild 
Bog to do any more mischief.” 

“ Where will you keep them? ” asked the 
mother stork. 

“ In our nest at the Wild Bog,” said he. 
“ The young ones and I can carry them between 
us, and if they are too heavy, there are places 
enough on the way where we can hide them till 
our next flight.” 

In the meantime the little child in the Viking’s 
hall by the Wild Bog, whither the storks flew in 
the spring, had had a name given her; it was 
Helga, but such a name was far too gentle for 
such a wild spirit as hers. The little child grew 


56 MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER 

to be a lovely maiden of sixteen, but wilder than 
most, even in those wild times. 

She rode a horse bare-backed as if she were a 
part of it, nor did she jump otf while her steed 
bit and fought with the other wild horses. She 
would often throw herself from the cliff into the 
sea in all her clothes, and swim out to meet the 
Viking when his boat neared the shore; and she 
cut off the longest strand of her beautiful hair to 
string her bow. 

The Viking’s wife, though strong-willed, be- 
came towards her daughter like any other mother, 
because she knew that a spell rested over the 
child. 

One bond always held Helga in check, and 
that was twilight ; when it drew near, she became 
quiet. She would go towards her mother, and 
when the sun sank she would sit sad and quiet, 
shriveled up into the form of a toad. Her body 
was now much bigger than those creatures ever 
are, but for that reason all the more unsightly. 
She looked like a wretched dwarf with the head 
of a frog and webbed fingers. There was some- 
thing very piteous in her eyes ; and her voice was 
only a hollow croak like the smothered sobs of a 
dreaming child. Then the Viking’s wife would 


MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER 57 


lake it on her knee, and looking into its eyes 
would forget the misshapen form, and would say, 
“ I could almost wish that thou wouldst always 
remain my dumb frog child. Thou art more ter- 
rible to look at when thou art clothed in beauty.” 

“ One would never think that she had been 
small enough to lie in a water-lily! ” said the fa- 
ther stork. “ Now she is grown up, and the very 
image of her Egyptian mother, whom we never 
saw again ! I have been flying across the marsh 
year in, year out, and never have I seen a trace 
of her. I have spent many a night flying about 
like an owl or a bat scanning the open water, but 
all to no purpose. Nor have we had any use for 
the two swan j)lumages which the young ones and 
I dragged up here with so much difficulty. They 
have lain for years in the bottom of the nest.” 

The Viking came home early that autumn with 
his booty and prisoners; among these was a 
young Christian priest, one of those men who 
opposed the heathen gods of the north. 

The young priest was imprisoned in the deep 
stone cellars of the timber house, and his feet and 
hands were bound with strips of bark. The Vi- 
king’s wife felt pity for him, but young Helga 
proposed that he should be treated in a cruel way. 


58 MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER 

When the night came, however, and the girl’s 
beauty of body and soul changed places, the Vi- 
king’s wife spoke tender words of grief from her 
sorrowful heart. The ugly toad with its un- 
gainly body stood fixing its sad brown eyes upon 
her, listening and seeming to understand with the 
mind of a human being. 

“ Never once to my husband has a word of my 
double grief through you passed my lips,” said 
the Viking’s wife. “ My heart is full of grief for 
you, great is a mother’s love! But love never 
entered your heart; it is like a lump of cold clay. 
How ever did you get into my house? ” 

Then the ungainly creature trembled, as if the 
words touched some invisible chord between body 
and soul, and great tears came into its eyes, 

“A bitter time will come to you,” said the 
Viking’s wife, ‘‘ and it will be a terrible one to me 
too ! Better would it have been if, as a child, you 
had been exposed on the highway, and lulled by 
the cold to the sleep of death 1 ” And the Vi- 
king’s wife shed bitter tears, and went away in 
anger and sorrow, passing under the curtain of 
skins which hung from the beams and divided the 
hall. 

The shriveled up toad crouched in the corner- 


MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER 59 

and a dead silence reigned. At intervals a half- 
stifled sigh rose within her; it was as if in anguish 
something came to life in her heart. She took a 
step forward and listened, then she stepped for- 
ward again and grasped the heavy bar of the 
door with her clumsy hands. Softly she drew it 
back, and silently lifted the latch, then she took 
up the lamp which stood in the room. It seemed 
as if a strong power gave her strength. She 
drew out the iron bolt from the barred cellar 
door, and slipped in to the prisoner. He was 
asleep she touched him with her cold, clammy 
hand, and when he awoke and saw the hideous 
creature, he shuddered as if he beheld an evil 
ghost. She drew out her knife and cut his bonds 
and then beckoned him to follow her. 

The toad led him behind the sheltering cur- 
tains down a long passage to the stable, pointed 
to a horse, on to which he sprang and she after 
him. She sat in front of him, clutching the mane 
of the animal. The prisoner understood her, and 
they rode at a quick pace along a path he never 
would have found. He forgot her hideous form, 
and prayed and sang holy songs which made her 
tremble. She wanted to stop and jump off the 
horse, but the priest held her tightly, and sang 


60 MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER 

aloud a psalm as if this could lift the spell upon 
her. 

The horse bounded on, the sky grew red, and 
the first sunbeams pierced the clouds. As the 
stream of light touched her, the transformation 
took place. She was once more a lovely maiden, 
but her wild spirit was the same. The priest 
held a girl in his arms, and he was terrified at the 
sight. He stopped the horse and sprang down, 
thinking he had met with a new trick of the evil 
one. But Helga sprang to the ground too. The 
short child’s frock only reached to her knee. She 
tore the sharp knife from her belt and rushed 
upon the startled man. “ Let me get at thee! ” 
she cried, “ let me reach thee, and my knife shall 
pierce thee! Thou art ashen pale, thou slave!” 

They wrestled together, but an invisible power 
seemed to give strength to the Christian; he held 
her tight, and the old oak under which they stood 
seemed to help him, for the loosened roots above 
the ground tripped her up. Close by rose a bub- 
bling spring, and he sprinkled her with water and 
commanded the unclean spirit to leave her, mak- 
ing the sign of the cross over her according to 
Christian custom. Her arms fell, and she looked 
with astonishment and paling cheeks at this man 


MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER 61 

who seemed to be a mighty magician skilled in 
secret arts. She trembled now as he traced the 
sign of the cross upon her forehead and bosom, 
and sat before him with drooping head like a wild 
bird tamed. 

He sj)oke gently to her about the deed of love 
she had done for him this night, when she came in 
the hideous shape of a toad, cut his bands, and led 
him out to light and life. She herself was bound, 
he said, and with stronger bonds than his ; but she 
also, through him, should reach to light and life 
everlasting. He would take her to Hedeby, to 
the holy Ansgarius, and there, in that Christian 
city, the spell would be removed. 

He knelt down and prayed humbly and ear- 
nestly. It seemed as if the quiet wood became a 
holy church. The birds began to sing as if they 
too were also of this new congregation, and the 
fragrance of the wild flowers was like the per- 
fume of incense. 

While he spoke the horse which had carried 
them stood quietly by, only rustling among the 
bramble-bushes, making the ripe, juicy fruit fall 
into little Helga’s hands, as if inviting her to re- 
fresh herself. Patiently she allowed herself to 
be lifted on to the horse’s back. The priest 


62 MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER 

bound together two branches in the shape of a 
cross, which he held aloft in his hand as he rode 
through the wood. The brushwood grew thicker 
and thicker, till at last it became a trackless wil- 
derness. 

Towards evening they met a band of robbers. 

“ Where hast thou stolen this beautiful child? ” 
they cried, stopping the horse and pulling down 
the two riders. 

The priest had no weapon but the knife which 
he had taken from little Helga, and with this he 
struck out right and left. One of the robbers 
raised his ax to strike him, but the Christian 
sprang to one side. The blade flew into the 
horse’s neck, so that the blood gushed forth, and 
it fell to the ground dead. Then little Helga 
rushed forward and threw herself on to the horse. 
The priest placed himself in front of her as a 
shield, but one of the robbers swung his iron club 
with such force at his head that the priest was 
knocked to the ground, dead. 

The robbers seized little Helga, but the sun 
was just going down, and as the last rays van- 
ished she was changed into the form of a frog. 
A greenish-white mouth stretched half over her 
face; her arms became thin and slimy; while 


MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER 63 

broad hands, with webbed fingers, spread them- 
selves out like fans. The robbers in terror let 
her go, and she stood among them a hideous mon- 
ster; and, according to frog nature, she bounded 
away with great leaps, and disapj)eared in the 
thicket. Then the robbers thought this must be 
some witchcraft, and hurried away in fear. 

The full moon had risen when poor little Helga, 
in the form of a frog, crept out of the thicket. 
She stopped by the body of the priest and the 
dead horse; she looked at them with eyes which 
seemed to weep; a sob came from the toad like 
that of a child bursting into tears. She fetched 
fresh water and washed the face of the dead man, 
and strewed fresh green leaves over it. She also 
brought large boughs to cover him, and scattered 
dried leaves between the branches. Then she 
brought the heaviest stones she could carry, and 
laid them over the dead body, filling up the spaces 
with moss. Now she thought the mound was 
strong and safe enough, but the task had taken 
the whole night; the sun was just rising, and 
there stood little Helga in all her beauty with 
bleeding hands and maidenly tears for the first 
time on her cheeks. 

It was as if two natures were struggling in 


64 MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER 

her; she trembled and glanced round as if she 
were just waking from a troubled dream. She 
leaned for support against a slender beech, and 
at last climbed to the topmost branches like a cat, 
and seated herself firmly upon them. She sat 
there the whole day, like a frightened squirrel in 
the wood where all is still and dead. 

When the evening drew near and the sun be- 
gan to sink, she roused. She slipped down gently 
from the tree, and when the last sunbeam was 
gone she sat there once more, the shriveled up 
frog with her torn, webbed hands; but her eyes 
now shone with a new beauty which they had 
hardly owned in all the pride of her loveliness. 
They were the gentlest and tenderest maiden’s 
eyes which now shone out of the face of the frog. 
And the beautiful eyes overflowed with tears, 
weeping precious drops that lightened the heart. 

The cross made of branches still lay by the 
priest’s grave. Little Helga took it up and 
placed it between the stones which covered man 
and horse. Her tears burst forth, and in this 
mood she traced the same sign in the earth round 
the grave— and as she formed with both hands 
the sign of the cross, the webbed skin fell away 
from her fingers like a torn glove. She washed 



c 

« 


I 


t 


I 


t 


« 


V 


» 


I 




* 


t 

^ . 
f 




*•./ V 

t ( 


« 


I 


, • 


■» » 



1 1 


i 






t 




t 


t 




“ * 




4 


f 


I ^ 


A 


t «> 

V . 





1 



t 




I 


I 




k 


♦ 


• I 


I « 


\ 

« 


< 


» f 


f 

It 




4 < 

j 

I 


( 


I 


* 


I 



I 


« 




t 


I 


I 





* 




I 


« « 


k 


f 



« 


# 


I 


9 



I 

ft 





f 




■ #' 




4 


I 


r 


I 


N 




t 


t 




» 


i 


J 


I 


I 


% 


f 

> 



\ ^ A « 





MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER 65 

her hands at the spring, and gazed in astonish- 
ment at their delicate whiteness. Again she 
made the holy sign in the air, between herself 
and the dead man; her lips trembled, her tongue 
moved, and the name which she in her ride 
through the forest had so often heard, rose to her 
lips, and she uttered the words “ Jesus Christ.” 

The frog’s skin fell away from her, she was the 
beautiful young maiden, but her head bent 
wearily and her limbs required rest. She slept. 
But her sleep was short; she was awakened at 
midnight; before her stood the dead horse pranc- 
ing and full of life. Close by his side appeared 
the Christian priest. 

There was such earnestness in his large eyes 
that little Helga trembled. Every kindness 
which had ever been shown her, every loving 
word which had been said to her, came vividly 
before her. 

The priest lifted her up on to the horse, and 
gave her a golden censer like those she had seen 
in the Viking’s hall. A fragrant perfume arose 
from it. He took the cross from the grave, hold- 
ing it high above him, while they rode rapidly 
through the air. 

Away they flew over wood and heath, rivers 


66 MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER 

and pools, up north towards the Wild Bog. The 
priest raised high the cross, it shone like gold, 
and his lips chanted a hymn. Little Helga sang 
with him as a child joins in its mother’s song. 
She swung the censer and from it issued a per- 
fume so strong and so wonder-working that the 
reeds and rushes burst into blossom, and flower 
stems shot up from the bottomless depths. The 
water-lilies spread themselves over the surface of 
the pool like a carpet, and on this carpet lay a 
sleeping woman. She was young and beautiful ; 
little Helga thought she saw herself, her picture 
mirrored in the quiet pool. It was her mother 
she saw, the wife of the Marsh King, the princess 
from the river Nile. 

The priest ordered that the sleeping woman 
be lifted up on to the horse, and all three rode 
on through the air to dry ground. Just then the 
cock crew from the Viking’s hall, and the vision 
melted away in the mist which was driven along 
by the wind, but mother and daughter stood side 
by side. 

“Is it myself I see reflected in the deep 
water? ” said the mother. 

“ Do I see myself mirrored in a bright 
shield? ” said the daughter. But as they ap- 


MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER 67 

proached and clasped each other heart to heart, 
the mother’s heart beat the fastest, and she un- 
derstood. 

“ My child! my own heart’s blossom! my lotus 
out of the deep waters ! ” and she wept over her 
daughter; her tears were a new baptism of love 
and life for little Helga. “ I came hither in a 
swan’s plumage, and here I threw it off,” said 
the mother. “ I sank down into the bog, which 
closed around me. Some power always dragged 
me down, deeper and deeper. I felt the hand 
of sleep pressing upon my eyelids. I fell asleep, 
and I dreamt — I seemed to be again in the vast 
Egyptian Pyramid; out walked the mummy 
king of a thousand years ago, black as pitch, 
black as the shining wood-snail or the slimy mud 
of the swamp. Whether it were the Mummy 
King or the Marsh King I knew not. He threw 
his arms around me, and I felt that I must die. 
When life eame back to me I felt something 
warm upon my bosom; a little bird fluttering 
its wing and twittering. It flew from my bosom 
high up towards the heavy dark canopy, but a 
long green ribbon still bound it to me; I heard 
and understood its notes of longing: ‘Ereedom! 
Sunshine! To the Father! ’ I remembered my 


68 MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER 


own father in the sunlit land of my home, my 
life, and my love ! and I loosened the ribbon and 
let it flutter away — home to my father. Since 
that hour I have dreamt no more; I must have 
slept a long and heavy sleep till this hour, when 
sweet music and fragrant odors awoke me and 
set me free.” 

While they stood there pressed heart to heart 
the stork was wheeling above their heads in great 
circles; at length he flew away to his nest, and 
brought back the swan plumages so long kept 
there. He threw one over each of them; the 
feathers closed over them closely, and mother and 
daughter rose into the air as two white swans. 

“ Now let us talk! ” said the father stork; “ for 
we can understand each other’s language, even 
if one sort of bird has a different shaped beak 
from another. It is the most fortunate thing in 
the world that you appeared this evening. To- 
morrow we should have been off, mother and I 
and the young ones. We are going to fly south- 
wards. Yes, you may look at me! I am an old 
friend from the Nile, so is mother too; her heart 
is not so sharp as her beak! She always said that 
the Princess would take care of herself! I and 
the young ones carried the swans’ plumage up 


MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER 69 

here ! How delighted I am, and how lucky it is 
that I am still here; as soon as the day dawns we 
will set off, a great company of storks. We will 
fly in front; you had better follow us, and then 
you won’t lose your way, and we will keep an 
eye upon you.” 

“ And the lotus flower which I was to take 
with me,” said the Egyptian Princess, “ flies by 
my side in a swan’s plumage. I take the flower 
of my heart with me, and so the riddle is solved. 
Now for home! home! ” 

But Helga said she could not leave the Danish 
land without seeing her loving foster-mother 
once more, the Viking’s wife. For in Helga’s 
memory now rose up every happy recollection, 
every tender word, and every tear her foster- 
mother had shed over her, and it almost seemed 
as if she loved this mother best. 

“Yes, we must go to the Viking’s hall,” said 
the father stork; “mother and the young ones 
are waiting for us there. How they will open 
their eyes and flap their wings! Now I will 
make a great clattering to let them know we are 
coming! ” 

So he clattered with his beak, and he and the 
swans flew off to the Viking’s hall. 


70 MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER 

They all lay in a deep sleep within; the Vi- 
king’s wife had gone late to rest, for she was in 
great anxiety about little Helga, who had not 
been seen for three days. She had disaj)peared 
with the Christian priest, and she must have 
helped him away; it was her horse which was 
missing from the stable. She had a dream, and 
in her dream little Helga sat close beside her, 
crouching on the floor in the form of the hideous 
frog. She trembled and crept closer to her fos- 
ter-mother who took her on her knee, and in her 
love pressed her to her bosom, notwithstanding 
the hideous frog’s skin. And the air resounded 
with the clashing of sword and club, and the 
whistling of arrows as though a fierce hailstorm 
were passing over them. Then the Viking’s wife 
saw the face of the Christian priest, their pris- 
oner. “ White Christ,” she cried aloud, and as 
she named the name she pressed a kiss upon the 
forehead of the loathsome toad; the frog’s skin 
fell away, and before her stood little Helga in 
all the radiance of her beauty, gentle as she had 
never been before, and with beaming eyes. She 
kissed her foster-mother’s hands, and blessed her 
for all the care and love she had shown in the 
days of her trial and misery. Little Helga rose 


MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER 71 

up as a great white swan and spread her wings, 
with the rushing sound of a flock of birds of pas- 
sage on the wing. 

The Viking’s wife was awakened by the rush- 
ing sound of wings outside; she knew it was the 
time when the storks took their flight, and it was 
these she heard. She wanted to see them once 
more and to bid them farewell, so she got up and 
went out on to the balcony; she saw stork upon 
stork sitting on the roofs of the outbuildings 
round the courtyard, and flocks of them were fly- 
ing round and round in great circles. Just in 
front of her, on the edge of the well where little 
Helga so often had frightened her with her wild- 
ness, sat two white swans, who gazed at her with 
their wise eyes. Then she remembered her dream, 
which still seemed quite real to her. She thought 
of little Helga in the form of a swan. She 
thought of the Christian priest, and suddenly a 
great joy arose in her heart. The swans flapped 
their wings and bent their heads as if to greet 
her, and the Viking’s wife stretched out her arms 
towards them as if she understood all about it, 
and she smiled at them with tears in her eyes. 

“We are not going to wait for the swans,” 
said the mother stork; “if they want to travel 


72 MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER 


with us they must come. We can’t dawdle here 
till the plovers start ! It is very nice to travel as 
we do, the whole family together, not like the 
chaffinches and the ruffs, when the males and fe- 
males fly separately; it’s hardly decent! And 
why are those swans flapping their wings like 
that?” 

“ Well, every one flies in his own way,” said 
the father stork. “ The swans fly in an oblique 
line, the cranes in the form of a triangle, and the 
plovers in a curved line like a snake.” 

“ Don’t talk about snakes while we are flying 
up here,” said the mother stork. “ It puts de- 
sires into the young one’s heads which they can’t 
gratify.” 

“ Are those the high mountains I used to hear 
about? ” asked Helga in the swan’s plumage. 

“ Those are thunder clouds driving along be- 
neath us,” said her mother. 

“ What are those white clouds that rise so 
high? ” again enquired Helga. 

“ Those are mountains covered with perpetual 
snows that you see yonder,” said her mother, as 
they flew across the Alps down towards the blue 
Mediterranean. 

“Africa’s land! Egypt’s strand!” said the 


MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER 73 

daughter of the Nile in her joy, as from far 
above in her swan’s plumage her eye fell upon 
the narrow waving yellow line, her birthplace. 
The other birds saw it too, and hastened their 
flight. 

“ I smell the Nile mud and the frogs,” said 
the mother stork. “ I am tingling all over. 
Now, you will have something nice to taste, and 
something to see too. There are the marabouts, 
the ibis, and the crane.” 

“ The storks have come back,” was said in the 
great house on the Nile, where its lord lay in the 
hall on his downy cushions covered with a leopard 
skin, scarcely alive, and yet not dead either, wait- 
ing and hoping for the lotus flower from the deep 
bog in the north. 

Relatives and servants stood round his couch, 
when two great white swans who had come with 
the storks flew into the hall. They threw off 
their dazzling plumage, and there stood two 
beautiful women as like each other as twin drops 
of dew. They bent over the pale withered old 
man, throwing back their long hair. 

As little Helga bent over her grandfather, the 
color came back to his cheeks, and new life re- 
turned to his limbs. The old man rose with 


74 MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER 

health and energy renewed; his daughter and 
granddaughter clasped him in their arms, as if 
with a joyous morning greeting after a long 
troubled night, 

Joy reigned through the house and in the 
stork’s nest too, but there the rejoicing was 
chiefly over the abundance of food, especially the 
swarms of frogs. 

Early in the spring, when the storks were 
again about to take flight to the north, little 
Helga took off her gold bracelet, and, scratching 
her name on it, beckoned to father stork and put 
it round his neck. She told him to take it to the 
Viking’s wife, who would see by it that her fos- 
ter-daughter still lived, was happy, and had not 
forgotten her. 

“ It is a heavy thing to carry! ” thought father 
stork, as it slipped on to his neck; “ but neither 
gold nor honor are to be thrown upon the high- 
way! The stork brings good luck, they say up 
there! ” 

The little nightingale singing in the tamarind 
bushes was also going north soon; Helga had 
often heard it singing by the Wild Bog, so she 
determined to send a message by it too. She 
knew the bird language from having worn a 


' MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER 75 

swan’s plumage, and she had kept it up by speak- 
ing to the storks and the swallows. The night- 
ingale understood her quite well, so she begged 
it to to the beech- wood in Jutland, where she 
had made the grave of stones and branches; she 
bade it tell all the other little birds to gaiard the 
grave and to sing over it. The nightingale flew 
away. 

In the autumn an eagle perched on one of the 
Pyramids saw a gorgeous train of heavily-laden 
camels, and men clad in armor riding fiery Arab 
steeds as white as silver with quivering red nos- 
trils and flowing manes reaching to the ground. 
A royal prince from Arabia, as handsome as a 
prince should be, was arriving at the stately man- 
sion where now the storks’ nest stood empty; its 
inhabitants were still in their northern home ; but 
they would soon now return — nay, on the very 
day when the rejoicings were at their height they 
returned. They were bridal festivities, and little 
Helga was the bride, clad in rich silk and many 
jewels. The bridegroom was the young prince 
from Arabia, and they sat together at the upper 
end of the table between her mother and her 
grandfather. 

But Helga was not looking at the bride- 


76 MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER 

groom’s handsome face round which his black 
beard curled, nor did she look into his fiery dark 
eyes which were fixed upon hers. She was gazing 
up at a brilliant twinking star which was beam- 
ing in the heavens. 

Just then there was a rustle of great wings in 
the air outside; the storks had come back. And 
the old couple, tired as they were and needing 
rest, flew straight down to the railing of the 
veranda ; they knew nothing about the festivities. 
They had heard on the frontiers of the country 
that little Helga had had them painted on the 
wall, for they belonged to the story of her life. 

“ It was prettily done of her,” said father 
stork. 

“ It is little enough,” said mother stork; “ they 
could hardly do less.” 

When Helga saw them she rose from the table 
and went out on to the veranda to stroke their 
wings. The old storks bowed their heads, and 
the very youngest ones looked on and felt hon- 
ored. And Helga looked up at the shining star, 
which seemed to grow brighter and purer; be- 
tween herself and the star floated a form purer 
even than the air, and therefore visible to her. 
It floated quite close to her, and she saw that it 


MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER 77 

was the priest; he also had come to her great 
festival — come even from the heavenly kingdom. 

“ The glory and bliss yonder, far outshines 
these earthly splendors,” he said. 

Little Helga prayed more earnestly and 
meekly than she had ever done before, that for 
one single moment she might gaze into the king- 
dom of Heaven. Then she felt herself lifted up 
above the earth in a stream of sweet sounds and 
thoughts. The unearthly music was not only 
around her, it was within her. No words can 
express it. 

“Now we must return; you will be missed,” 
said the priest. 

“ Only one glance more,” she pleaded; “ only 
one short moment more.” 

“We must return to earth; the guests are de- 
parting.” 

“ Only one look — the last.” 

Little Helga stood once again on the veranda, 
but all the torches outside were extinguished and 
the lights in the banqueting hall were out too; 
the storks were gone ; no guests were to be seen ; 
no bridegroom — all had vanished in those short 
three minutes. 

A great dread seized upon Helga; she walked 


78 MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER 

through the great empty hall into the next cham-i 
her where strange warriors were sleej)ing. She 
opened a side door which led into her own room, 
but she found herself in a garden, which had 
never been there before. Red gleams were in the 
sky, dawn was approaching. Only three minutes 
in Heaven, and a whole night on earth had 
passed away. 

Then she saw the storks ; she called to them in 
her own language. Father stork turned his head, 
listened, and came up to her. 

“ You speak our langTiage,” he said. What 
do you want? Why do you come here, you 
strange woman? ” 

“ It is I ; it is Helga ; don’t you know me? We 
were talking to each other in the veranda three 
minutes ago.” 

“ That is a mistake,” said the stork; “ you must 
have dreamt it.” 

“ No, no,” she said, and she reminded him of 
the Viking’s stronghold, and the Wild Bog, and 
their journey together. 

Father stork blinked his eyes and said, “ Why, 
that is a very old story ; I believe it happened in 
the time of my great-great-grandmother. Yes, 
there certainly was a princess in Egypt who came 


MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER 79 


from the Danish land, but she disappeared on 
her wedding night many hundred years ago. 
You may read all about it here, on the monu- 
ment in the garden. There are both storks and 
swans carved on it, and you are at the top your- 
self, all in white marble.” 

And so it was ; Helga understood all about it 
now and sank upon her knees. 

The sun burst forth, and as, in former times, 
the frog’s skin had fallen away before his beams 
and revealed the beautiful girl; so now, in the 
baptism of light, a vision of beauty, brighter and 
purer than the air — a ray of light — rose to the 
Father. The earthly body dropped away in dust 
— only a withered lotus flower lay where she had 
stood. 

“ Well, that is a new ending to the story,” said 
father stork ; I hadn’t expected that, but I like 
it very well.” 

“ What will the young ones say about it? ” 
asked mother stork. 

“ Ah, that is a very important matter,” said 
father stork. 


THE BELD 


TN-the evening, at sunset, when glimpses of 
golden clouds could just be seen among the 
chimney pots, a curious sound would be heard, 
first by one person, then by another; it was like 
a church bell, but it only lasted a moment be- 
cause of the rumble of vehicles and the street 
cries. 

“ There is the evening bell,” people would say; 
“ the sun is setting.” 

Those who went outside the town where the 
houses were more scattered, each with its garden 
or little meadow saw the evening star, and heard 
the tones of the bell much better. It seemed as 
if the sound came from a church buried in silent, 
fragrant woods, and people looked in that direc- 
tion, feeling quite solemn. 

Time passed, and still people said one to the 
other, “ Can there be a church in the woods ! that 
bell has such a wonderfully sweet sound; shall we 
go and look at it closer? ” The rich people drove 
and the poor ones walked, but it was a very long 
way; when they reached a group of willows which 



poor boy Veid reevched the s^aae 
just ^ soon. ^ his ^ ,r^ 


^^^oiyn ro2vd^^^^^ 







•T 






tn 





•- c. ■•■ 

. Lk ■ 


V ' * 

.c^Ar- ‘ 


• f'* !■ 

^\^lv - 

=r:' .:. j • . <: 


':> J.. 


4. f' 


♦ • 



LT •-- 


- » 







’r 


% 


M 


'>y 

. ' ‘ VA - 

■i ■-•C\<- .** -riiUlU'' :' * 

' ■ ■•■,'iHs’, ; ^ ' *35 

i ' i " mI^ 

fr i ■'•- *- 



|v . :' : 

; < 'Pi ivti .- - ' 

W 1 !• ; -.f •#. . 


>■!:• '* . -^li \ ■- -.I-*’- ■ 

*^»' # ■ *‘'-’ f . V’’ ” ■Jr %’■ 

■. * /'■(*' '-rf'^ • '■»7^V*-*^U ^ r -r:-. f ' 

Slfe.^ySPr.- ■ V- l'< »v %rJr\ ^ . -V O O ■^' ,,? 1 




I • .^. '■( •'. ~ • “1 


-HR 


^ I 





A ^ 




' <1 , • . 
^ ^ A 



’ *• Lf^’ ♦ 4 - r * • .. 

■■ -'• "Vi' j. \ ’ j f 

* ■. '■ ^ /> 'Vii ' 

'■ : "w iff* ■•■fV 

■•• • ■ 'i^ •^,"-^ • ■ ... ' ■ •• : 

■ " ^ it;t^-::’ ' - ■ •■' 

I. _ A*- 


fr 



THE BELL 


81 


grew on the outskirts of the wood, they sat down 
and looked up among the long branches, think- 
ing that they were really in the heart of the for- 
est. A confectioner from the town came out and 
pitched a tent there, and then another confec- 
tioner, and he hung a bell up over his tent. This 
bell was tarred so as to stand the rain, and the 
clapper was wanting. When people went home 
again they said it had been so romantic, and that 
meant something beyond mere tea. Three per- 
sons protested that they had penetrated right 
through the forest to the other side, and that they 
had heard the same curious bell all the time, but 
that then it sounded as if it came from the 
town. 

One of them wrote a poem about it, and said 
that it sounded like a mother’s voice to a beloved 
child; no melody could be sweeter than the 
chimes of this bell. 

The Emperor’s attention was also drawn to it, 
and he promised that any one who really discov- 
ered where the sound came from should receive 
the title of “ the world’s bell-ringer,” even if 
there were no bell at all. 

A great many people went into the woods for 
the sake of earning an honest penny, but only 


82 


THE BELL 


one of them brought home any kind of explana- 
tion. No one had been far enough, not even he 
himself, but he said that the sound of the bell 
came from a very big owl in a hollow tree; it was 
a wise owl, which perpetually beat its head 
against a tree, but whether the sound came from 
its head or from the hollow tree he could not say 
with any certainty. All the same he was ap- 
pointed ‘‘ world’s bell-ringer,” and every year he 
wrote a little treatise on the owl, but nobody was 
much the wiser for it. 

Now on a certain Confirmation day the priest 
had preached a very moving sermon; all the 
young people about to be confirmed had been 
much touched by it ; it was a very important day 
for them. They were leaving childhood behind 
and becoming grown-up persons ; the child’s soul 
was, as it were, to be transformed into that of a 
responsible being. It was a beautiful sunny 
day, and after the Confirmation the young peo- 
ple walked out of the town and they heard the 
sound of the unknown bell more than usually 
loud coming from the wood. On hearing it they 
all felt anxious to go further and see it; all ex- 
cept three. The first of these had to go home to 
try on her ball-dress; it was this very dress and 


THE BELL 


83 


this very ball which were the reason of her having 
been confirmed this time; otherwise it would have 
been put off. The second was a poor boy, who 
had borrowed his tail-coat and boots of the land- 
lord’s son, and he had to return them at the ap- 
pointed time. The third said that he had never 
been anywhere without his parents, that he had 
always been a good child and he meant to con- 
tinue so, although he was confirmed; nobody 
ought to have made fun of this resolve, hut he did 
not escape being laughed at. 

So these three did not go; the others trudged 
off. The sun shone and the birds sang, and the 
newly-confirmed young people took each other 
by the hand and sang with them; they had not 
yet received any position in life; they were all 
equal in the eye of the Lord on the day of their 
Confirmation. Soon two of the smallest ones 
got tired and they returned to town; two little 
girls sat down and made wreaths, so they did not 
go either. When the others reached the willows 
where the confectioners had their tents, they said, 
“ Now, then, here we are; the bell doesn’t exist, 
it is only something people imagine! ” 

Just then the bell was heard in the wood, with 
its deep rich notes; and four or five of them de- 


84 


THE BELL 

cided after all to penetrate further into tHe wood. 
The underwood was so thick and close that it was 
quite difficult to advance. Convolvulus and 
brambles hung in long garlands from tree to tree, 
where the nightingales sang and the sunbeams 
played. It was deliciously peaceful, but there 
was no path for the girls, their clothes would 
have been torn to shreds. There were great 
boulders overgrown with many-colored mosses, 
and fresh springs trickled among them with a 
curious little gurgling sound. 

“ Surely that cannot be the bell! ” said one of 
the young people, as he lay down to listen. 

“ This must be thoroughly looked into.” So 
he stayed behind and let the others go on. 

They came to a little hut made of bark, and 
branches overhung by a crab-apple, as if it 
wanted to shake all its bloom over the roof, which 
was covered with roses. The long sprays clus- 
tered round the gable, and on it hung a little bell. 
Could this be the one they sought? Yes, they 
were all agreed that it must be, except one; he 
said it was far too small and delicate to be heard 
so far away as they had heard it, and that the 
tones which moved all hearts were quite different 
from these. He who spoke was a king’s son, and 


THE BELL 85 

so the others said, “ That kind of fellow must 
always be wiser than any one else.” 

So they let him go on alone, and as he went he 
was more and more overcome by the solitude of 
the wood; but he still heard the little bell with 
which the others were so pleased, and now and 
then when the wind came from the direction of 
the confectioners he could hear demands for tea. 

But the deep-toned bell sounded above them 
all, and it seemed as if there was an organ play- 
ing with it, and the sounds came from the left, 
where the heart is placed. 

There was a rustling among the bushes, and a 
little boy stood before the king’s son; he had 
wooden shoes on, and such a small jacket that the 
sleeves did not cover his wrists. They knew each 
other, for he was the boy who had had to go back 
to return the coat and the boots to the landlord’s 
son. He had done this, changed back into his 
shabby clothes and wooden shoes, and then, 
drawn by the deep notes of the bell, had returned 
to the wood again. 

‘‘ Then we can go together,” said the king’s 
son. 

But the poor boy in the wooden shoes was too 
bashful. He pulled down his short sleeves, and 


86 


THE BELL 


said he was afraid he could not walk quickly 
enough, besides which he thought the bell ought 
to be looked for on the right, because that side 
looked the most beautiful, 

“ Then we shan’t meet at all,” said the king’s 
son, nodding to the poor boy, who went into the 
thickest and darkest part of the wood, where the 
thorns tore his shabby clothes and scratched his 
face, hands, and feet till they bled. The king’s 
son got some good scratches too, but he at least 
had the sun shining upon his path. We are go- 
ing to follow him, for he is a bright fellow, 

“ I must and will find the bell,” said he, “ if I 
have to go to the end of the world.” 

Some horrid monkeys sat up in the trees grin- 
ning and showing their teeth. 

“ Shall we pelt him? ” said they. Shall we 
thrash him? He is a king’s son.” 

But he went confidently on further and further 
into the wood, where the most extraordinary 
flowers gi’ew. There were white star-like lilies 
with blood-red stamens, pale blue tulips which 
glistened in the sun, and apple-trees on which the 
apj)les looked like great shining soap-bubbles. 
You may fancy how these trees glittered in the 
sun. Round about were beautiful green mead- 


THE BELL 


87 


ows, where stags and hinds gamboled under the 
spreading oaks and beeches. Mosses and creep- 
ers grew in the fissures where the bark of the 
trees was broken away. There were also great 
glades with quiet lakes, where white swans swam 
about flapping their wings. The king’s son often 
stopped and listened, for he sometimes fancied 
that the bell sounded from one of these lakes; but 
then again he felt sure that it was not there, but 
further in the wood. 

Now the sun began to go down, and the clouds 
were fiery red; a great stillness came over the 
wood, and he sank ui)on his knees, sang his even- 
ing psalm, and said, “ Never shall I find what I 
seek, now the sun is going down, the night is 
coming on — the dark night; perhaps I could 
catch one more glimpse of the round, red sun be- 
fore it sinks beneath the earth. I will climb up 
onto those rocks; they are as high as the trees.” 

He seized the roots and creepers, and climbed 
up the slippery stones where the water-snakes 
wriggled and the toads seemed to croak at him; 
but he reached the top before the sun disap- 
peared. Seen from this height, oh! what splen- 
dor lay before him ! The ocean, the wide, beau- 
tiful ocean, its long waves rolling towards the 


88 


THE BELL 


shore. The sun still stood like a great shining 
altar, out there where sea and sky met. Every- 
thing melted away into glowing colors; the wood 
sang, the ocean sang, and his heart sang with 
them. All Nature was like a vast holy temple, 
where trees and floating clouds were as pillars, 
flowers and grass the woven tapestry, and the 
heaven itself a great dome. The red colors van- 
ished as the sun went down, but millions of stars 
peeped out; they were like countless diamond 
lamps, and the king’s son spread out his arms to- 
wards heaven, sea, and forest. At that moment, 
from the right-hand path came the poor boy with 
the short sleeves and wooden shoes. He had 
reached the same goal just as soon by his own 
road. They ran towards each other, and clasped 
each other’s hands in that great temple of Nature 
and Poetry, and above them sounded the invis- 
ible holy bell; happy spirits floated round it to 
the strains of a joyous Hallelujah, 


THE SHEPHERDESS ilND THE 
SWEEP 


T TAVE you ever seen an old wooden cup- 
board quite black with age, and orna- 
mented with carved foliage and curious figures? 
Well, just such a cupboard stood in a parlor, and 
had been left to the family as a legacy by the 
great-gi’andmother. It was covered from top to 
bottom with carved roses and tulips; the most 
curious scrolls were drawn upon it, and out of 
them peeped little stags’ heads, with antlers. In 
the middle of the cupboard door was the carved 
figure of a man most ridiculous to look at. He 
gi’inned at you, for no one could call it laughing. 
He had goat’s legs, little horns on his head, and 
a long beard; the children in the room always 
called him “ Major-general-field-sergeant-com- 
mander Billy-goat’s-legs.” It was certainly a 
very difficult name to pronounce, and there are 
very few who ever receive such a title, but then it 
seemed wonderful how he came to be carved at 
all ; yet there he was, always looking at the table 
under the looking-glass, where stood a very 


90 SHEPHERDESS AND SWEEP 

pretty little shepherdess, made of china. Her 
shoes were gilt, and her dress had a red rose for 
an ornament. She wore a hat, and carried a 
crook, that were both gilded, and looked very 
bright and pretty. Close by her side stood a lit- 
tle chimney-sweeper, as black as a coal, and also 
made of china. He was, however, quite as clean 
and neat as any other china figure ; he only repre- 
sented a black chimney-sweeper, and the china 
workers might just as well have made him a 
prince, had they felt inclined to do so. He stood 
holding his ladder quite handily, and his face was 
as fair and rosy as a girl’s; indeed, that was 
rather a mistake, it should have had some black 
marks on it. He and the shepherdess had been 
placed close together, side by side; and, being so 
placed, they became engaged to each other, for 
they were very well suited, being both made of 
the same sort of china, and being equally fragile. 
Close to them stood another figure, three times as 
large as they were, and also made of china. He 
was an old Chinaman, who could nod his head, 
and used to pretend that he was the grandfather 
of the shepherdess, although he could not prove 
it. He, however, assumed authority over her, 
and therefore when “ Major-general-field-ser- 



T ISuSt they tho top of _ __ 

’^^^chimngy, and sat aioiiLselvcs dowi 
tor ttioy wem vc^ tired ; 



r.-*.> ^ "^2' t:^'' ': '4^' ■^' ‘■•>'^"' '’T 


’-'V’-'%' i|is.^sii. ■ • : y- Vi 






:•■ *'• . :'^- m 

.■•' vV^''V,.•■ : '■■Nr'si^s 


Li/l 



1 ' 


V 




I u . A ' 

• ■ A * 

• «* 

/ ..;'V J >* 

* 


^1 


♦ 4 



.» 1 . • ' a: , 

* A ''rr ,r 


.’IB - . - “■ ,v ‘ ‘ ^ 

J iV- ■ < , 4 r. 


vi .fr ' ^ 


•*1. 


'’I* ' ^ 

,, '•^■r,\,.- .[T 




t’ 

IV 





'■ V 

‘7 ■' ’- 


,- » . 


■ > 





if ;.* '* 


>. \ 


u . I »• V w Jl>^* ‘ ' - t ^ 

I ■■. ' ■ r'lSf 

f ' • *»^vu>”a .1 . *. 


J‘ ! * . '/« ^' • » * • 

pnp^v/- 




i*' 


"'i*_k''^ ■ •" ^ ’^'^' t- V* 

*-* , , V , '• t? '• ^ W 

*. . rXj* 





'i.i li V J . 


. . '*u. ..4 


SHEPHERDESS AND SWEEP 91 

geant-commander Billy-goat’s-legs ” asked for 
the little shepherdess to be his wife, he nodded his 
head to show that he consented. “ You will have 
a husband,” said the old Chinaman to her, “ who 
I really believe is made of mahogany. He will 
make you the lady of Major-general-field-ser- 
geant-commander Billy-goat’s-legs. He has the 
whole cupboard full of silver plate, which he 
keeps locked up in secret drawers.” 

“ I won’t go into the dark cupboard,” said the 
little shepherdess. “ I have heard that he has 
eleven china wives there already.” 

Then you shall be the twelfth,” said the old 
Chinaman. “ To-night as soon as you hear a 
rattling in the old cupboard, you shall be mar- 
ried, as true as I am a Chinaman ” ; and then he 
bobbed his head and fell asleep. 

Then the little shepherdess cried, and looked at 
her sweetheart, the china chimney-sweeper. ‘‘ I 
must entreat you,” said she, “ to go out with me 
into the wide world, for we cannot stay here.” 

“ I will do whatever you wish,” said the little 
chimney-sweeper; “let us go immediately: I 
think I shall be able to maintain you with my 
profession.” 

“ If we were but safely down from the table! ” 


92 SHEPHERDESS AND SWEEP. 

said she; “ I shall not be happy till we are really, 
out in the world.” 

Then he comforted her and showed her how to 
place her little foot on the carved edge and gilt- 
leaf ornaments of the table. He brought his lit- 
tle ladder to help her, and so they contrived to 
reach the floor. But when they looked at the old 
cupboard, they saw it was all in an uproar. The 
carved stags pushed out their heads, raised their 
antlers, and twisted their necks. The major- 
general sprung up in the air, and cried out to the 
old Chinaman, “They are running away! they 
are running away!” The two were rather 
frightened at this, so they jumped into the 
drawer of the window-seat. Here were three or 
four packs of cards not quite complete, and a 
doll’s theater, which had been built up very 
neatly. A comedy was being performed in it, 
and all the queens of diamonds, clubs, and hearts, 
and spades, sat in the first row fanning them- 
selves with tulips, and behind them stood all the 
knaves, showing that they had heads above and 
below as playing cards generally have. The 
play was about two lovers, who were not allowed 
to marry, and the shepherdess wept because it 
was so like her own story. “ I cannot bear it,” 


SHEPHERDESS AND SWEEP 9S 

said she, “ I must get out of the drawer; ” but 
when they reached the floor, and cast their eyes 
on the table, there was the old Chinaman awake 
and shaking his whole body, till all at once down 
he came on the floor, ‘‘ plump.” “ The old 
Chinaman is coming,” cried the little shepherdess 
in a fright, and down she fell on one knee. 

“ I have thought of something,” said the chim- 
ney-sweeper; “ let us get into the great pot- 
pourri jar which stands in the corner; there we 
can lie on rose-leaves and lavender, and throw 
salt in his eyes if he comes near us.” 

“ No, that will never do,” said she, “ because I 
know that the Chinaman and the pot-pourri jar 
were lovers once, and there always remains be- 
hind a feeling of good-will between those who 
have been so intimate as that. No, there is noth- 
ing left for us but to go out into the wide world.” 

“ Have you really courage enough to go out 
into the wide world with me? ” said the chimney- 
sweeper; “ have you thought how large it is, and 
that we can never come back here again? ” 

“ Yes, I have,” she replied. 

When the chimney-sweeper saw that she was 
quite firm, he said, “ My way is through the stove 
and up the chimney. Have you courage to creep 


94 SHEPHERDESS AND SWEEP 

with me through the fire-box, and the iron pipe? 
When we get to the chimney I shall know how 
to manage very well. We shall soon climb too 
high for any one to reach us, and we shall come 
through a hole in the top out into the wide 
world.” So he led her to the door of the stove. 

“ It looks very dark,” said she; still she went in 
with him through the stove and through the pipe, 
where it was as dark as pitch. 

“ Now we are in the chimney,” said he; “ and 
look, there is a beautiful star shining above it.” 
It was a real star shining down upon them as if 
it would show them the way. So they clambered 
and crept on, and a frightfully steep place it 
was; but the chimney-sweeper helped her and 
supported her, till they got higher and higher. 
He showed her the best places on which to set 
her little china foot, so at last they reached the 
top of the chimney, and sat themselves down, for 
they were very tired, as may he supposed. The 
sky, with all its stars, was over their heads, and 
below were the roofs of the to^vn. They could 
see for a very long distance out into the wide 
world, and the poor little shepherdess leaned her 
head on her chimney-sweeper’s shoulder, and 
wept till she washed the gilt off her sash; the 


SHEPHERDESS AND SWEEP 95 

world was so different to what she expected. 
“ This is too much,” she said; “ I cannot bear it, 
the world is too large. Oh, I wish I were safe 
back on the table again, under the looking-glass; 
I shall never be happy till I am safe back again. 
Now I have followed you out into the wide 
world, you will take me back, if you love me.” 

Then the chimney-sweeper tried to reason with 
her, and spoke of the old Chinaman, and of the 
Ma j or-general-field-sergeant-commander Billy- 
goat’s-legs ; but she sobbed so bitterly, and kissed 
her little chimney-sweeper till he was obliged to 
do all she asked, foolish as it was. And so, with 
a great deal of trouble, they climbed down the 
chimney, and then crept through the pipe and 
stove, which were certainly not very pleasant 
places. Then they stood in the dark fire-box, 
and listened behind the door, to hear what was 
going on in the room. As it was all quiet, they 
peeped out. Alas! there lay the old Chinaman 
on the floor; he had fallen down from the table 
as he attempted to run after them, and was 
broken into three pieces; his back had separated 
entirely, and his head had rolled into a corner of 
the room. The major-general stood in his old 
place, and appeared lost in thought. 


96 SHEPHERDESS AND SWEEP 

“ This is terrible/’ said the little shepherdess. 
“ My poor old grandfather is broken to pieces, 
and it is our fault, I shall never live after this ; ” 
and she wrung her little hands. 

“ He can be riveted/’ said tKe chimney- 
sweeper; “ he can be riveted. Do not be so hasty. 
If they cement his back, and put a good rivet in 
it, he will be as good as new, and be able to say 
as many disagreeable things to us as ever.” 


THE ANGEL 


“T T^HENEVER a good child dies, an angel 

^ ^ of God comes down from heaven, takes 
the dead child in his arms, spreads out his great 
white wings, and flies with him over all the places 
which the child has loved during his life. Then 
he gathers a large handful of flowers, which he 
carries up to the Almighty, that they may bloom 
more brightly in heaven than they do on earth. 
And the Almighty presses the flowers to His 
heart, but He kisses the flower that pleases Him 
best, and it receives a voice, and is able to join 
the song of the chorus of bliss.” 

These words were spoken by an angel of God, 
as he carried a dead child up to heaven, and the 
child listened as if in a dream. Then they passed 
over well-known spots where the little one had 
often played, and through beautiful gardens full 
of lovely flowers. 

“ Which of these shall we take with us to 
heaven to be transplanted there? ” asked the 
angel. 

Close bj" grew a slender, beautiful rose-bush. 


98 


THE ANGEL 


but some wicked hand had broken the stem, and 
the half-opened rosebuds hung faded and with- 
ered on the trailing branches. 

“ Poor rose-bush! ” said the child; “ let us take 
it with us to heaven, that it may bloom above in 
God’s garden.” 

The angel took up the rose-bush; then he 
kissed the child, and the little one half opened his 
eyes. The angel gathered also some beautiful 
flowers, as well as a few buttercups and heart’s- 
ease. 

“ Now we have flowers enough,” said the child; 
but the angel only nodded, he did not fly upward 
to heaven. 

It was night, and quite still in the great town. 
Here they remained, and the angel hovered over 
a small, narrow street, in which lay a large heap 
of straw, ashes, and sweepings from the houses of 
people who had moved. There lay fragments of 
plates, pieces of plaster, rags, old hats, and other 
rubbish not pleasant to see. Amidst all this con- 
fusion, the angel pointed to the pieces of a broken 
flower-pot, and to a lump of earth which had 
fallen out of it. The earth had been kept from 
falling to pieces by the roots of a withered flower, 
which had been thrown amongst the rubbish. 



The Angel and the child 




^ # k * i.*- ■^-4“^-^it'>'i"^ •P^S^* 'm* ’ ' -t**.^ 

y I _<Linjm~_ L ^ • 1 ^ ' OTTn ^ XSow ^ ^ 


' II y 0 -u j?v:;. - -: -jtnry. 



99 


THE ANGEL 

‘‘We will take this with us,” said the angel; 
“ I will tell you why as we fly along.” 

And as they flew the angel told the story: 

“ Down in that narrow lane, in a low cellar, 
lived a poor sick boy; he had been sick from his 
childhood, and even in his best days he could just 
manage to walk up and down the room on 
crutches once or twice, but no more. During 
some days in summer the sunbeams would lie on 
the floor of the cellar for about half an hour. In 
this spot the poor sick boy would sit warming 
himself in the sunshine. Then he would say he 
had been out, yet he knew nothing of the green 
forest in its spring foliage, till a neighbor’s son 
brought him a green bough from a beech-tree. 
This he would place over his head, and fancy that 
he was in the beech-wood while the sun shone, 
and the birds sang gayly. One spring day the 
neighbor’s boy brought him some field-flowers, 
and among them was one to which the root still 
stuck. This he carefully planted in a flower-pot, 
and placed in a window-seat near his bed. And 
the flower had been planted by a fortunate hand, 
for it grew, put forth fresh shoots, and blossomed 
every year. It became a splendid flower-garden 
to the sick boy, and his little treasure upon earth. 


100 


THE ANGEL 

He watered it, and cherished it, and took care it 
should have the benefit of every sunbeam that 
found its way into the cellar, from the earliest 
morning ray to the evening sunset. The flower 
twined itself even in his dreams — for him it 
bloomed, for him spread its perfume. And it 
gladdened his eyes, and to the flower he turned, 
even in death, when the Lord called him. He 
has been one year with God. During that time 
the flower has stood in the window, withered and 
forgotten, till at length cast out among the 
sweepings into the street. And this poor flower, 
withered and faded as it is, we have added to our 
nosegay, because it gave more real joy than the 
most beautiful flower in the garden of a queen.” 

“ But how do you know all this? ” asked the 
child whom the angel was carrying to heaven. 

“ I know it,” said the angel, “ because I my- 
self was the poor sick boy who walked upon 
crutches, and I know my own flower well.” 

Then the child opened his eyes and looked into 
the glorious happy face of the angel, and at the 
same moment they found themselves in that 
heavenly home where all is happiness and joy. 
And God pressed the dead child to His heart, 
and wings were given him so that he could fly 


THE ANGEL 


101 


with the angel, hand in hand. Then the Al- 
mighty pressed all the flowers to His heart; but 
He kissed the withered field-flower, and it re- 
ceived a voice. Then it joined in the song of 
the angels, who surrounded the throne, some 
near, and others in a distant circle, but all equally 
happy. They all joined in the chorus of praise, 
both great and small — the good, happy child, 
and the poor field-flower, that once lay withered 
and cast away on a heap of rubbish in a narrow, 
dark street. 


THE STORKS 


STORK had built his nest on the roof of 



the last house in a little town. The mother 
stork was sitting on the nest with her little ones, 
who stuck out their little black beaks, which had 
not turned red yet. The father stork stood a 
little way off on the ridge of the roof, erect and 
stiff, with one leg drawn up under him, so as at 
least to be at some trouble while standing sentry. 
One might have thought he was carved out of 
wood, he stood so still ! 

“ It will look so grand for my wife to have a 
sentry on guard by the nest!” he thought. 
“ People won’t know that I am her husband. I 
dare say they think I have orders to stand there 
— it looks smart! ” and so he remained standing 
on one leg. 

A party of children were playing in the street, 
and when they saw the stork, one of the boldest 
boys, followed by the others, sang the old song 


THE STORKS 103 

about the storks, but he sang it just as it came 
into his head: 

‘^Oh! father stork, father stork, fly to your nest. 

Three featherless fledglings await your return. 

The first of your chicks shall be stuck through the 
breast. 

The second shall hang and the third shall burn.” 

“ Hark! what are the boys singing? ’’ said the 
little storks; “ they say we are to be hanged and 
burnt! ” 

‘‘ Don’t bother your heads about them! ” said 
the mother stork ; “ don’t listen to them and then 
it won’t do you any harm.” 

But the boys went on singing and pointing 
their fingers at the storks; only one boy, whose 
name was Peter, said that it was a shame to make 
fun of creatures and he would take no part in it. 

The mother bird comforted her little ones, say- 
ing, “ Do not trouble yourselves about it, look at 
your father how quietly he stands, and on one 
leg too! ” 

“ But we are so frightened,” said the young 
ones, burying their heads in the nest. 

The next day when the children came back to 
play and they saw the storks they began their 
old song: 


104 THE STORKS 

“ The first of your chicks shall be stuck through the 
breast, 

The second shall hang and the third shall burn.” 

“ Are we to be hanged and burnt? ” asked the 
little storks. 

“No, certainly not!” said the mother; “you 
are to learn to fly, see if I don’t drill you, then 
we will go into the flelds and visit the frogs; they 
curtsey in the water to us and sing ‘ Koax, 
Koax,’ and then we gobble them up; that’s a 
treat if you like! ” 

“ And what next? ” asked the young ones. 

“ Oh, then all the storks in the country assem- 
ble for the autumn drill, and you will have to fly 
your best, for the one who cannot fly will be run 
through the body by the general’s beak, so you 
must take good care to learn something when the 
drills begin.” 

“ After all then we may be stuck just as the 
boys said, and listen, they are singing it again 
now ! ” 

“Listen to me and! not fo them,” said the 
mother stork. “After that we shall fly away to 
the warm countries, ever such a way off, over the 
woods and mountains. We go to Egypt where 
they have houses with three-cornered sides, the 


105 


THE STORKS 

points of which reach above the clouds; they are 
called Pyramids, and they are older than any 
stork can remember. Then there is a river v/hich 
overflows its banks and all the land round turns 
to mud. You walk about in mud catching 
frogs.’' 

“ Oh! ” said all the young ones. 

“Yes, it is splendid; you do nothing but 
eat all day; while we are so well off there, there 
is not a leaf on the trees in this country, and it is 
so cold that the clouds freeze all to pieces and 
fall down in little bits.” 

She meant snow, but did not know how to de- 
scribe it any better. 

“Do the naughty boys freeze to pieces?” 
asked the young storks. 

“No, they don’t freeze to pieces, but they come 
very near to it ; you, on the other hand, fly about 
in strange countries, in the warm sunshine among 
flowers.” 

Some time passed and the little ones were big 
enough to stand up in the nest and look about 
them. The father stork fleAv backwards and for- 
Avards every day, with nice frogs and little 
snakes, and every kind of delicacy he could find. 
It was so funny to see the tricks he did to amuse 


106 


THE STORKS 


them; he would turn his head right round on to 
his tail, and he would clatter with his beak, as if 
it was a rattle. And then he told them all the 
stories he had heard in the swamps. 

“ Well, now you must learn to fly,” said the 
mother stork one day; and all the young ones 
had to stand on the ridge of the roof. Oh, how 
they wobbled about trying to keep their balance 
with their wings, and how nearly they fell down. 

“ Now look at me,” said the mother; “ this is 
how you must hold your heads ! And move your 
legs so! one, two, one, two, this will help you to 
get on in the world.” 

Then she flew a little way, and the young ones 
made a clumsy little hop, and down they came 
with a bump, for their bodies were too heavy. 

“ I don’t want to fly,” said one of the young 
ones, creeping down into the nest again. “ I 
don’t care about going to the warm countries.” 

“ Do you want to freeze to death here when 
the winter comes? Shall the boys come and hang 
or burn or stick you? I will soon call them! ” 

“ No, no,” said the young one, hopping out 
upon the roof again, just like the others. 

By the third day they could all fly fairly well; 
then they thought they could hover in the air, 


107 


THE STORKS 

loo, and they tried it, but flop ! — they soon found 
they had to move their wings again. 

Then the boys began their song again: 

“ Oh ! father stork, father stork, fly to your nest.” 

“ Shall we fly down and pick their eyes out? ” 
asked the young ones. 

“ No, leave them alone,” said their mother; 
“ only pay attention to me, that is much more im- 
portant. One, two, three, now we fly to the 
right ; one, two, three, now to the left, and round 
the chimney ! that was good. That last stroke of 
the wings was so pretty and the flap so well done 
that I will allow you to go to the swamp with me 
to-morrow! Several nice storks go there with 
their children; now just let me see that mine are 
the nicest. Don’t forget to carry your heads 
high; it looks well, and gives you an air of im- 
portance.” 

“ But are we not to have our revenge on the 
naughty boys? ” asked the young storks. 

“ Let them scream as much as they like; you 
will fly away with the clouds to the land of the 
pyramids, while they will perhaps be freezing. 
There won’t be a green leaf or a sweet apple here 
then!” 


108 


THE STORKS 


‘‘ But we will have our revenge! ” they whis- 
pered to each other, and then they began their 
drilling again. 

Of all the boys in the street, not one was worse 
at making fun of the storks than he who first 
began the teasing song. He was a tiny little 
fellow, not more than six years old. It is true, 
the young storks thought he was at least a hun- 
dred, for he was so much bigger than their father 
and mother, and they had no idea how old chil- 
dren and grown-up people could be. They re- 
served all their vengeance for the boy who first 
began to tease them, and who never would leave 
off. The young storks were frightfully irritated 
by the teasing, and the older they grew the less 
they would stand it. At last their mother was 
obliged to promise that they should have their 
revenge, but not till the last day before they left. 

“We shall first have to see how you behave at 
the drill. Now let us see! ” 

“ That you shall!” said the young ones; and 
didn’t they take pains? They practiced every 
day, till they could fly as lightly as any feather; 
it was quite a pleasure to watch them. 

Then came the autumn; all the storks began 
to assemble, before they started on their flight to 


THE STORKS 109 

the warm countries, where they spend their win- 
ters. 

Those were indeed drills! They had to fly 
over woods and towns, to try their wings, be- 
cause they had such a long journey before them. 
The young storks did everything so well that 
they got no end of frogs and snakes as prizes. 
They had the best characters, and then they could 
eat the frogs and snakes afterwards, which you 
may be sure they did. 

“ Now we shall have our revenge! ” they said. 

“ Yes, certainly,” said the mother stork. “ My 
plan is this, and I think it is the right one! I 
know the pond where all the little human babies 
lie, till the storks fetch them, and give them to 
their parents. The pretty little creatures lie 
there asleep, dreaming sweet dreams, sweeter 
than any they ever dream afterwards. Every 
parent wishes for such a little baby, and every 
child wants a baby brother or sister. Now we 
fly to the pond and fetch a little brother or sister 
for each of those children who did not join in 
singing that horrid song, or in making fun of 
the storks. But those who sang it shall not have 
one and as for the good boy, who said, ‘ It is a 
shame to make fun of the creatures,’ we will take 


110 


THE STORKS 


both a brother and a sister to him, and because 
his name is Peter, you shall all be called Peter 
too.” 

It happened just as she said, and all the storks 
are called Peter to this day. 


THE GOBLIN AND THE HUCKSTER 



HERE was once a poor student who lived 


in a garret. And there was also a huckster 
to whom the house belonged, and who occupied 
the ground floor. A goblin lived with the huck- 
ster, because at Christmas he always had a large 
dish full of jam, with a great piece of butter in 
the middle. The huckster could afford this ; and 
therefore the goblin remained with the huckster, 
which was very cunning of him. 

One evening the student came into the shop to 
buy candles and cheese. He obtained what he 
wished, and then the huckster and his wife 
nodded good-evening to him. The student 
nodded in return as he turned to leave, then sud- 
denly stopped, and began reading the piece of 
paper in which the cheese was wrapped. It was 
a leaf torn out of an old book, one that ought not 
to have been torn up, for it was full of poetry. 

“ Yonder lies more of the same sort,” said the 
huckster. ‘‘ I gave an old woman a few coffee 
berries for it; you shall have the rest for six- 
pence, if you will.” 


112 THE GOBLIN AND HUCKSTER 

“ Indeed I will/’ said the student; ‘‘give me 
the book instead of the cheese; I can eat my 
bread and butter without cheese. It would be a 
sin to tear up a book like this. You are a clever 
man, and a practical man; but you understand 
no more about poetry than that cask yonder.” 

This was a very rude speech; especially in re- 
gard to the cask; but the huckster and the stu- 
dent both laughed, for it was only said in fun. 
But the goblin felt very angry that any man 
should venture to say such things to a huckster 
who was a householder and sold the best butter. 
As soon as it was night, and the shop closed, and 
every one in bed except the student, the goblin 
stepped softly into the bedroom where the huck- 
ster’s wife slept, and took away her tongue, 
which, of course, she did not then want. What- 
ever object in the room he placed this tongue 
upon immediately received voice and speech, and 
was able to express its thoughts and feelings as 
readily as the lady herself could do. It could 
only be used by one object at a time, which was 
a good thing, as a number speaking at once 
would have caused great confusion. The goblin 
laid the tongue upon the cask, in which lay a 
quantity of old newspapers. 


THE GOBLIN AND HUCKSTER 113 

“ Is it really true,” he asked, “ that you do not 
know what poetry is? ” 

“ Of course I know,” replied the cask: “ poetry 
is something that always stands in the corner of 
a newspaper, and is sometimes cut out; and I 
may venture to affirm that I have more of it in 
me than the student has, and I am only a poor 
tub of the huckster’s.” 

Then the goblin placed the tongue on the 
coffee mill; and how it did go to be sure! Then 
he put it on the butter tub and cash box, and 
they all expressed the same opinion as the waste- 
paper tub; and a majority must always be re- 
spected. 

“ Now I shall go and tell the student,” said the 
goblin; and with these words he went quietly up 
the back stairs to the garret where the student 
lived. He had a candle burning still, and the 
goblin peeped through the keyhole and saw that 
he was reading in the torn book, which he had 
bought at the shop. But how light the room 
was! From the book shot forth a ray of light 
which grew broad and full, like the stem of a 
tree, from which bright rays spread upward and 
over the student’s head. Each leaf was fresh, 
and each flower was like a beautiful female head ; 


114 THE GOBLIN AND HUCKSTER 


some with dark and sparkling eyes, and others 
with eyes that were wonderfully blue and clear. 
The fruit gleamed like stars, and the room was 
jSlled with sounds of beautiful music. The little 
goblin had never imagined, much less seen or 
heard of, any sight so glorious as this. He stood 
still on tiptoe, peeping in, till the light went out 
in the garret. The student no doubt had blown 
out his candle and gone to bed; but the little gob- 
lin remained standing there nevertheless, and 
listening to the music which still sounded on, soft 
and beautiful, a sweet cradle-song for the stu- 
dent, who had lain down to rest. 

“ This is a wonderful place,” said the goblin; 
“ I never expected such a thing. I should like 
to stay here with the student ” ; and then the lit- 
tle man thought it over, for he was a sensible lit- 
tle sprite. At last he sighed, “ But the student 
has no jam!” So he went down-stairs again 
into the huckster’s shop, and it was a good thing 
he got back when he did, for the cask had almost 
worn out the lady’s tongue; he had given a de- 
scription of all that he contained on one side, and 
was just about to turn himself over to the other 
side to describe what was there, when the goblin 
entered and restored the tongue to the lady. But 


THE GOBLIN AND HUCKSTER 115 

from that time forward, the whole shop, from the 
cash box down to the pinewood logs, formed 
their opinions from that of the cask; and they all 
had such confidence in him, and treated him with 
so much respect, that when the huckster read the 
criticisms on theatricals and art of an evening, 
they fancied it must all come from the cask. 

But after what he had seen, the goblin could 
no longer sit and listen quietly to the wise talk 
down-stairs ; so, as soon as the evening light glim- 
mered in the garret, he took courage, for it 
seemed to him as if the rays of light were strong 
cables, drawing him up, and obliging him to go 
and peep through the keyhole; and, while there, 
a feeling of vastness came over him such as we 
experience by the ever-moving sea, when the 
storm breaks forth; and it brought tears into his 
eyes. He did not himself know why he wept, 
yet a kind of pleasant feeling mingled with his 
tears. “ How wonderfully glorious it would be 
to sit with the student under such a tree!” but 
that was out of the question ; he must be content 
to look through the keyhole, and be thankful for 
even that. 

There he stood on the cold landing, with the 
autumn wind blowing down upon him through 


116 THE GOBLIN AND HUCKSTER 


the trap-door. It was very cold; but the little 
creature did not really feel it, till the light in the 
garret went out, and the tones of music died 
away. Then how he shivered, and crept down- 
stairs again to his warm corner, where it felt 
home-like and comfortable. And when Christ- 
mas came again, and brought the dish of jam 
and the great lump of butter, he liked the huck- 
ster best of all. 

Soon after, in the middle of the night, the 
goblin was awakened by a terrible noise and 
knocking against the window shutters and the 
house doors, and by the sound of the watchman’s 
horn; for a great fire had broken out, and the 
whole street appeared full of fiames. Was it in 
their house, or a neighbor’s? No one could tell, 
for terror seized upon all. The huckster’s wife 
was so bewildered that she took her gold ear- 
rings out of her ears and put them in her pocket, 
that she might save something at least. The 
huckster ran to get his business papers, and the 
servant resolved to save her black silk mantle, 
which she had managed to buy. Each wished 
to keep the best things they had. The goblin 
had the same wish'; for, with one spring, he was 
up-stairs and in the student’s room, whom he 


THE GOBLIN AND HUCKSTER 117 

found standing by the open window, and looking 
quite calmly at the fire, which was raging in the 
house of a neighbor opposite. The goblin caught 
uj) the wonderful book which lay on the table, 
and popped it into his red cap, which he held 
tightly with both hands. The greatest treasure 
in the house was saved; and he ran away with it 
to the roof, and seated himself on the chimney. 
The flames of the burning house opposite illu- 
minated him as he sat, both hands pressed tightl}^ 
over his cap, in which the treasure lay ; and then 
he found out what feelings really reigned in his 
heart, and knew exactly which way they lured 
him. And yet, when the fire was extinguished, 
and the goblin again began to reflect, he hesi- 
tated, and said at last, ‘‘ I must divide myself 
between the two; I cannot quite give up the 
huckster, because of the jam.” 

And this is a representation of human nature. 
We are like the goblin; we all go to visit the 
huckster “ because of the jam.’* 


THE END 



( 

•r 


j 

% 

:;i 

1 

' ( 

I 



t 



* . 




\ ‘ 


• r 


' a ,., 'vyri 






) 


; i' “ • / »'■ ’•I 

-V . f' 

f;.- .f;*-''' r, 

" 'A 


'V 


. \ 


i . 


, I 






• ' ■- f. 

■ •> ( 

•. '''- I 
J - 


'V 


7 .>••' 


. # 

I T 

.7 


V' 


I ( 


# 


>• 

* ^ 5 








> t ' 4 ' ' 

y 


I 





1 


1 


f 


\ 




-J 



V 




' 4 ; 


V • 


yj rfY. .1 * 










,W' 








?V .-.V ;*>- •i^ ^'i>^'/>xH.Vita 


'V.- 


.?-, • 


.7/ 


I S' 

* ■ ' ' 


. \K 


,- \ 


■■, ' •., . .'V' 

* * * . I ♦ ' • rtr I • 


VMVJ.! 






O 

u/ : r ;• p 

V 1 » ' I . .. . 

: •'■ k . 


IWv 


. V 


'.'4;;., 


A 


, 

It .V / 





I'T 

■^^fV ' , \/,?v'i 4^ i-^A .\\ ? V, 4 


■ 


' \ 




">i':''' ■} 


:o' * 



\ (■'* ^ 


’.V 


. • ■( ..- 

* •: ,f.- V-,‘'v^'.'i j^Vk •■/■»'• ' 

' I -* •'^ 4 • #1 V.: ^ VVA . 




*“V.> • 






r"-*/ 


• AK-i^S- , 


» 

•■' ''''kk'!-;;*'-. 

-' V:''.' .'.'k.-vv ,' 

•,. ,;v.:Vt.a^; ■ ; 












4 

i 




, p . 


t I 


C \ 


I r-i 





